THE MEASURINGSTICK OF THE TRACTOR INDUSTRY©
Part IV
The War Years
1941-1945
Dan Whalen 2165 Berry Road, Amelia, OH 45102
As printed in the Wild Harvest 1999 #5

By 1941, the Massey-Harris Company of Racine, Wisconsin was a survivor positioned to manufacture tractors and machinery for the world.

Paled to insignificance by time, was the contribution of ideas and spirit of many men whop influenced the result of what the Massey-Harris tractor and the tractor industry was in 1941. The contributions from the movers and the shakers like P.O. Henrickson, Oliver Conger, W.H. Corbet, C.M. Eason, H.M. Wallis, John S. Rodgers, James Duncan, Tom Carroll and many, many more developed the basic spirit of wanting the very best materials, quality, innovative engineering which made J.I. Case Plow Works, Wallis and later the Massey-Harris of USA in 1941.

Far from the threat of bombing and already positioned for manufacturing and exporting a high percentage of its products to the world, the Massey-Harris Company of USA made a long-term significance to the volume of production and profitability for Massey-Harris parent company's bottom line.

In November of 1940, Massey-Harris received an order form the U.S. Government to manufacture links for tank tracks. In December 1941, two U.S. Army Division Representatives went to Racine to look at the possibilities of producing tanks.

A contract was signed on January 11, 1942 and Massey-Harris Company USA bought the Nash-Kelvinator plant in Racine, WI for production of the aircraft wings, truck bodies, trailers, M 24 and M 5 tank. During the war years, there was a reduction of inventories of finished goods to next to none and an increase of cash from 2.4 million to 1939 to 10.3 million in 1945. Two thirds of Massey-Harris Limited's (the parent company of Toronto) total sales from 1940-1945 was from sales and manufacture in the North American Market.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there were shortages of materials which brought about price controls, priorities and quotas. The manufacturing of items such as autos, refrigerators, stoves, radios, tires, etc. for civilian use was stopped. Great stress was made by government and manufacturers to rebuild, repair, and take care of existing products. Massey-Harris encouraged farmers to recondition tired machinery; this is when a lot of green was covered over with red paint.

One of the great stories comes from this period of time and which causes great gastronomical revulsion on the part of officials who worked for other manufacturers at the time.

The story is this: Steel was in very short supply. Normal allocations would not allow a production increase for a new product. A proven machine was ready for mass introduction - the #21 self-propelled combine. The self-propelled combine would save half a million bushels alone from not using tractor combining in just opening up fields. The new combine also released 625 to 1,375 tractors to do other work and save half a million gallons of fuel, It was felt if the government war production board could be convinced more bushels could be harvested with the same amount of raw materials going into the self-propelled combine rather than other harvesting machines (other manufacturers), the steel would be allocated.

Joe Tucker, Sales Manager of Massey-Harris Company USA, developed the " Massey-Harris Harvest Brigade". The plan, which was accepted by the war production board, was to build 500 self-propelled combines, and sell them to custom combine operators who would guarantee to harvest 2000 acres with each machine.

Starting in the south in early April, fanning out across the U.S., the combine brigade would work its way to the Canadian border by September. The publicity alone generated the view to most farmers that Massey-Harris had no serious rivals when it came to the self-propelled combine. And Massey-Harris Company "USA did its part in feeding a hungry world.

Farm machinery industry had an advantage over other industries. The government feared a shortage of machinery would threaten food production so manufacturers were able to continue producing their regular products and increase production after the war. They were not like other industries, which had to retool and reinvent themselves. That is why the Harvest Brigade was a stroke of genius. Massey-Harris was able to introduce and develop vast publicity, public acceptance, and demand for a product that couldn't be delivered yet. Once the combine could be mass-produced, the buyers waiting in line. Tractor models available during the war years, if you could get one, were the 101 SR, 101 Jr, 201, 202, 203, 81 and 82 offered in Standard or Row Crop version on steel. These tractors were offered over the war years as follows:

                         1942



	The 81 and 82 remained unchanged



	The 101 and 102 Junior remained the same until late in the

        year when major changes occurred.  The screen grill was

        replaced with a louvered frill as the same style as the

        81, 82 and 200 series tractors and the 102 SR.  The engine

        curtains slightly tapered down at the rear of the curtain

        blending in with the newly added battery curtains.  The

        air cleaner was removed from behind the grill, and relocated

        ahead of the fuel tank.  The air intake stack protruded

        through the hood.  The engine size increased from 140 cid to 1162 cid.



	The 101 Super row-crop remained unchanged except for one

        alteration; the air cleaner was also removed from behind

        the grill and relocated on the left side of the engine

        ahead of the fuel tank.  The last 500 (approximately) 101

        Super standard model tractors encountered cosmetic changes.

        The chrome strips were removed from the grill, there were

        no longer any louvered side curtains on the reactor.

        Instead an engine "half" panel was used which was very

        similar to the earlier 101 Junior.  There were flat rear

        curtains covering the battery.



	The 102 Senior basically was unchanged except for the standard

        model distillate version.  The early 102 senior distillate

        standard used a cast iron louvered grill the same as the

        201 Super.  Also it used the same engine side curtains,

        the battery curtains were of their own design but very

        close to the last 101 super standard batter curtains. 

        For the 1942 models the grill was made of stamped steel

        and it was louvered also.  This grill was used until the

        102 and 101 Senior was discontinued.  The side curtains

        were identical to the 203 but in a smaller version.



	The 201 remained unchanged.  The 202 stayed the same except

        for the last 40 produced.  The 40 202 tractors produced

        cosmetically were the same as the 203.  The cast iron

        grill was replaced with the 203 sheet grill, which has

        one more louvered frill bar.  The engine curtain and

        battery curtain were the same as a 203 also.  It would

        be easy to mistake one of these tractors for a 203 and a

        202 engine.  The 203 remained unchanged.





                         1943



	The 81 was not offered but the 82 was.  The 101, 102 Juniors

        remained the same as the late "42" models.  The 101 Super

        was no loner available but replaced by the 101, 102 Senior. 



        The Senior encountered all the cosmetic changes as the

        Junior did in the late "42".  The engine in the Senior

        was a Continental F-226 six cylinder for gas models and

        an A-244 Continental six cylinder for the distilled model.

        The 201 and 202 were no longer available.  The 203 remained the same.



                         1944



	The 81 was available again, all models were unchanged. 



        The 203-G was introduced thus being the same as the

        distillate 203 but having a high compression 330 cid engine.



                         1945



	All models remained unchanged.



                         1946



	All models remained unchanged.  The model 20 Row-Crop version

        was introduced; this tractor was identical to the 81.



                         1947



	The only tractors offered from the previous year was the 203D,

        2-3G and the 20 row crop.  The 20 standard tread was introduced.

In 1940, one model offered for approximately 2 years was the General. The General was built by the Cleveland Tractor Company and shared many parts with the Cletrac Crawler Model HG. The General was a Model GG.

In 1944, a new line of tractors was planned but was not introduced until late 1946.

By the end of the war years, Massey-Harris had a large well-trained work force, additional facilities and was ready, willing and able to take advantage of the seller's market soon to come.

Many hours of research has gone into this ongoing series. If you have any information to add, please relate this and documentation to Dan Whalen. There are too many books, articles and VCR tapes on this subject that are in whole or in part inaccurate and misleading which has damaged and eclipsed the reputation of Massey-Harris Company U.S.A. and the fine tractors and equipment it engineered and manufactured as the facts show.