Old tractor question-what year (years) did Farmall paint the tractors blue? What was the reason for this?

Question

I seen a blue Farmall M or MTA at a tractor pull this past summer. I asked my uncle why the owner painted it blue and he said the tractor was bought new with the blue paint and the owner restored it the same. Was it in all the models or just a few?

I'm just curious and thanks for your time.

Answer 1

<blockquote>IH "Red" became the standard tractor color after 1936 through the 1970s.<blockquote>

Before 1937 they looked like this.  

http://tinyurl.com/yvnexe

In the 1950s, I occasionally saw a Farmall in the pre-1937 color scheme but fitted with rubber tires.

Answer 2

I can't answer your question as to models or years, but your uncle is right, they did sell some blue tractors. They still sell a IH Blue paint in antique tractor parts.

Answer 3

Well I found this interesting discussion of the same.

http://www.ytmag.com/farmall/messages/42...

And I found another website you can use to research tractor colors

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/librarya...

From what I read, the color before red was "deep green gray."

The same memo said that they would produce other colors for special orders such as municipalities or utilities, but the paint had to meet the same standard.  Kinda fun to flip back through all the history.

Answer 4

After the research I did on wikipedia, (I know they are not necessarily the greatest source) I found no reference to blue tractors.  It said they were painted Battleship Grey until sometime in the '30's where they switched to red, and from my understanding they were never blue.

I hope that helps.