History of International Harvester Construction Equipment

hey everybody welcome back to the channel and if you've been watching my channel for any amount of time you'll know that I'm the Enthusiast of tractors and heavy machinery and just like with any sports team everyone's got their favorite same thing goes with equipment manufacturers and you've got caterpillar John Deere Alice Chalmers Komatsu many other brands and my favorite just happens to be International hybrid Street International Harvester is well known for their agricultural tractors their trucks semis even the Scout but they're lesser known for their construction equipment and I'm going to talk a little bit about that today and tell the story of the International Harvester pay line and construction equipment division there's a lot of misinformation out there about IH construction equipment and many don't know that at one time International Harvester was number three behind caterpillar and Komatsu in the world's leading construction equipment manufacturers some say the case construction equipment and IH were merged this is completely untrue ji case and IH construction equipment are completely unrelated some say you can't get parts for IH construction equipment this is also untrue although it isn't as easy as walking into your local dealer these days I'll cover finding Parts in a future video for now I'm going to talk about the history of the International Harvester construction and Industrial Equipment if you're interested in learning more on this subject there are two great books payline by Oscar will or International Harvester huff and dresser by Roger Amato are some great books that go and fluff further detail than I can go to in this video in the 1830s a young man named Cyrus McCormick and his father worked on building a horse-drawn Reaper in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1934 Cyrus patented his machine and is credited to be the inventor of the first successful mechanical reaper he called it the Virginia Reaper a brilliant businessman Cyrus McCormick pioneered many sales methods still used today such as offering a warranty selling machines on credit and franchising dealers in 1847 Cyrus moved his business to Chicago Illinois to take advantage of the railroads for shipping and to be closer to the Midwest where the greatest sales were by the mid-1800s competition was fierce stolen patents sabotage theft and even violence over selling harvesting equipment this is what became known as the Harvester Wars in 1871 most of the McCormick's factories were lost in the Great Chicago Fire it was a huge loss but they were rebuilt by the late 1800s mergers were discussed and In 1902 it was decided that McCormick Deering and four smaller Reaper manufacturers would merge to create the International Harvester Company by 1908 International Harvester had gotten into the tractor business selling large tractors known as the Titan and Mogul people began using these AG tractors and road building jobs like pulling graders and rollers IH was also building stationary engines by the 1920s IH had smaller tractors like the 1020 and introducing the Farmall in 1924 these smaller tractors were the perfect starting point to be converted into specialty machines many manufacturers would build attachments for them such as front mounted buckets or disassemble the tractor and turn it into into a self-propelled roller or grater in the 1920s companies like traxxin built crawler conversions for wheeled tractors and in the 1930s IH decided to make their own track tractor they named it the track tractor caterpillar sued IH and after 14 years of litigation a settlement was reached IH had to pay caterpillar 6 million dollars meanwhile a young engineer named Frank G Huff while working at Blair manufacturing was designing hydraulic attachments for tractors the Blair hydraulic Digger was made to fit many manufacturers of tractors and was the first hydraulic front end loader attachment Frank Huff purchased the Blair Manufacturing Company in 1931 and in 1933 changed the name to the Frank G Huff company Huff moved to Libertyville Illinois and built a factory large enough to manufacture their own products rather than just design and sell them with new tractor designs constantly changing it was very difficult to keep designing new mounting and attaching hardware for all the different makes and models in 1939 Huff released its Fert integrated wheel loader known as the Huff HS for huff small the granddaddy of all wheel loaders these purpose-built loaders were called payloaders a name that would be synonymous with the huff and wheel loaders in general a couple years later the Huff HL or Huff large was released and capable of handling one cubic yard of material since 1904 industrial engines have been built by International Harvester company starting with a large flywheel single cylinder gasoline engines as time went on the engines grew larger more cylinders routed kerosene fuel became an option and Diesel power became available ihu is the unique system of starting the diesel engines using a compression release valve and a carburetor to allow the engine to start on gasoline and be switched to diesel this eliminated the need for a pony engine for starting or the need for very powerful batteries which weren't available at the time this gasoline start diesel engine remained in use until around 1956 when IH went to a direct start diesel engine I8 sold these engines to many other manufacturers such as atoms and Galleon to power self-propelled graders also a stationary power to run Sawmills and rock Crushers International Harvester contributed to the war effort for World War II providing crawler tractors tanks trucks Torpedoes and much more in 1944 the company was reorganized and the industrial power division of International Harvester was created specifically for construction equipment and Industrial purposes the chairman of the board Fowler McCormick announced his goal of overtaking caterpillar in heavy equipment sales volume in 1945 the industrial power division of International Harvester was moved to Melrose Park Illinois into the former Buick aircraft engine Factory the new facility was used mainly for crawler tractor and diesel engine production in 1947 International Harvester released the new td-24 crawler tractor the size of a caterpillar d8 the td24 was slightly heavier and featured a unique planetary steering system that allowed the inside track to be powered during a turn this was a brilliant concept however it was rushed into production without adequate testing the initial design was a failure resulting in a redesign and recalling all early td-24 tractors this was a huge black eye to the company and hurt their crawler reputation for years to come companies such as Bucyrus Erie Heil carco Isaacson Huff drought and Holt sometimes built aftermarket attachments for IH and other brands of Machinery over the years IH picked up some of these designs and purchased the design manufacturing rights to produce them as OEM installed attachments in some cases such as scrapers IH converted an existing pole scraper design into a powered scraper by adding an IH powertrain to the front in place of the front axle and tow bar by the early 1950s the Frank G Huff company in Libertyville Illinois was building a revolutionary and cutting-edge Designs wheel loaders far ahead of the competition Advanced features such as torque converters planetary axles z-bar loader linkage and power shift Transmissions were available Huff added unique and specialized equipment to their lineup such as the pay mover used to push train cars and later aircraft in 1952 International Harvester purchased the Frank G Huff company this put them far ahead of any competition in the loader market and expanded their product lines it was decided that Huff division of IH would be kept as a separate Division and not integrated into IH industrial power division this idea had its drawbacks as many inefficiencies duplication of products and other issues with dealer networks were caused by keeping the division separate with such a diverse line of equipment marketed to construction equipment in 1956 the industrial power division was renamed construction equipment division the same year the pay hauler was released as a new type of off-highway dump truck this line of pay hauler trucks would go on to be very successful and would be built long after IH was gone the pay hauler design would be purchased by a group of employees in management forming the pay hauler Corporation in 1981 then purchased by Terex in 1998 and produced until 2006. in 1958 IH began updating the entire crawler tractor line getting away from the gasoline start diesels and going to direct start diesel engines adding power shift transmission options integral frames for track loaders and more the model numbering was also changed the td14 became the td15 the td18 became the td20 the td24 became the td25 by the late 1950s IH was cooking up an even bigger crawler to compete with the caterpillar D9 but rather than building a larger tractor IH decided to use many parts from a td25 and build a similar size machine but with more power resulting in a more powerful machine than the td25 but more Nimble than a D9 not to mention the cost Savings of not having to design as many new parts unfortunately the td30 as it was be called was rushed into production in 1962 without adequate testing early sales were good but in the field drivetrain failures plagued the td-30 by the time the td30 was discontinued in 1967 it was a good machine but it was too late the IH crawler reputation had yet another black eye by 1959 the Huff paymover had found a niche market as an aircraft tug and pushback tractor these successful machines can still be found working at airports in the U.S as well as abroad when the IH farm equipment division was looking to build a four-wheel drive tractor to compete with John Deere's 8010 tractor they went to the Huff division for help Huff developed the ih-4300 ag tractor only about 45 were built because it was expensive and sort of a bastard child of the farm equipment division but it was ih's first step into the four-wheel drive agricultural tractors in the early 1960s Huff introduced wheel loaders with an articulating frame this led to a stronger and more maneuverable machine the larger payloaders were offered in a paid Dozer this was a large wheeled Dozer often used for pushing scrapers in 1965 a joint venture between International Harvester and Komatsu was formed named Kimco Komatsu International manufacturing company this 50 50 Venture led to IH Huff's designed loaders being sold internationally as Komatsu the smaller ih-500 series loaders the 510 the 515 and the 520 payloaders were later built in Japan by Kimco as well as the ih-284 ag tractor ih-84 series four-wheel drive front axles and other equipment this Venture lasted until 1982 when Komatsu would buy ih's 50 share in Kimco in 1966 International Harvester began merging its independently operated Huff division into the construction equipment Division and by 1972 all construction equipment fell under one name of payline the payline group of International Harvester was headquartered at the original Frank G Huff company building in Libertyville Illinois by the early 1960s hydraulic excavators were catching on and IH wandered in on it in July 1970 IH acquired a 51 percent controlling interest in a French excavator manufacturer called the yumbo yumbo produced both rubber tire and crawler type excavators at the American mining Congress in 1971 International released the new 580 payloader the 580 held the record of largest wheel loader in the world with an 18 cubic yard bucket weighing 125 tons it was a truly Mammoth machine in 1972 hutta stalowa of Poland licensed the rights to produce IH payloaders for the European market in 1975 a new plant was opened in Gulfport Mississippi to produce International loader backhoes and I each industrial loader tractors the late 1970s were an exciting time for new IH products International had finally standardized their model designations Consolidated their construction industrial resources and had some much needed updates to the lineup the 200 series backhoes had a full line from the 248 to the 280a the new 500 series payloaders from the 500 to the massive 580. the new 600 series excavators from 620 to 650 and even the 400 series scrapers with major Financial losses in the payline division in 1976 IAH began looking to sell the division r d money for new products was halted International Harvester as a whole was restructured in 1977 into five business groups agricultural equipment payline trucks solar and components group and a new CEO Archie McArdle was recruited from Xerox during the early 1980s International Harvester was feeling the crunch of high interest rates as high as 21 mounting debt labor strikes and a slumping economy IH finally acknowledged their troubles publicly and began selling off assets to remain solvent over the next few years I aged with sell-off axle and transmission designs tractor designs and whole divisions in 1981 IH also sold its highly profitable solar gas turbine division to Caterpillar for 505 million dollars in early 1982 IH sold its interest in Kimco Komatsu International manufacturing company to Komatsu for 52 million dollars the popular Cub Cadet lawn and garden line was sold to MTD or modern tool and die Dana Corporation bought many IH axle and transmission designs the paymover designs were sold off to Ingersoll in 1982 a group of IH employees came together and purchased the pay hauler design and spun off the pay hauler Corporation this profitable Venture continued to produce IH design 350 pay hauler and refurbish old pay haulers into the late 90s when payhaller Corporation was purchased by Terex in 2003 The Remains were sold to Caterpillar in 1982 IH sold his controlling interest in yumbo excavators back to the employees of yumbo yumbia was eventually sold to a Japanese firm Furukawa yumbo excavators continued to be sold for a short time under the dresser name but by the late 1980s dresser excavators were re-badged Komatsu machines August 26 1982 International Harvester announced the sale of its pay Line Construction Equipment division to dresser industries of Dallas with IH payline assets of about 580 million the fire sale of the payline division for only 82 million dollars in the acquisition dresser got the former Frank G Huff plant in Libertyville Illinois however the IH Melrose Park plant where I each produce crawler tractors and engines was not included without a production facility for crawler tractors dresser looked to Hyundai heavy industries of South Korea to manufacture the dresser crawler line in the interim dresser purchased Hall pack in 1984 to fill the need for a heavy mining dump truck in its portfolio the hall pack trucks would eventually go under the Komatsu name after the hall pack name was dropped before the sale of the payline division IH had a new large Dozer on the drawing board but had no money to bring it into production in 1985 the new td-40 Dozer was put into production under the new dresser name powered by a 460 horsepower Cummins kta 1150c the td40 weighed around 140 000 pounds with the sale of the International Harvester agricultural division to tenico in 1985. Dresser was left without a source of engines some of the engine designs went to Case IH While others went to Navistar the dresser had to look elsewhere the terms of this sale had restricted usage for engines to solve this issue dresser turned to Cummins to power their machines this included the B series and c-series Cummins engines that were legendary for power longevity and reliability in 1988 dresser released a new rear engine crawler loader the dresser 200 was designed to compete with a popular new caterpillar rear engine crawler loaders the dresser 200 used hydrostatic drive unfortunately it did not gain popularity and was only produced for a few short years in very low numbers in the late 1980s dresser's budget was getting tight and their facilities and equipment needed updating September 1988 dresser Industries joined Komatsu in a 50 50 joint venture in construction equipment called Komatsu dresser this helped Komatsu get a foothold of the North American market and gave dresser much needed access to larger and more modern Komatsu resources in the early 90s dressers started rebadging Komatsu wheel loaders as dresser loaders while still selling the IH designed loaders as well the Komatsu built dresser loaders had the cab on the rear half of the machine while the IH design dresser loader still had the cab on the front half in 1991 the dresser 580 Bay loader was given a facelift and renamed the hall pack 4000 and it was continued until 1996 when it was discontinued and replaced by the Komatsu wa 1200 after heavy losses in 1991 dresser Industries reduced its interest in the Komatsu dresser and changed his name to andresco in 1992. Komatsu continued to sell the dresser line in the U.S until 1998 when it was discontinued continued to produce and modernize the IH dresser design loaders dozers and pipe layers under the license from Komatsu for the global market starting in 1999 sold Under The Dresden name dressed a meaning dress for dresser and staff for stall awula dressed eventually purchased the loader and Dozer designs that traced their Roots back to IH from Komatsu in 2005. in 2012 Chinese firm lugong Machinery Acquired resta and its apparent company huta stole a Walla becoming lugong dressed a Machinery the dress to lineup brought a larger line of machines to lugong's portfolio as well as a proven Dozer line that lugong was lacking shortly after the acquisition dress had dropped the smaller loader designs with the cab on the front and bogey in favor of re-badged lugong loaders which used the rear bogey cab in 2015 the 560e extra the final IH design loader was dropped from the dress to line up eventually all loaders were dropped to this day lugong dresseda Machinery produces dozers and pipe layers for the world market based on a foundation of the legendary machines built and designed by the International Harvester company thanks for watching thank you

Channel: Desert Truck & Tractor

Views: 8,736

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Id: I0d3eRDKVB8

Length: 20min 7sec (1207 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 30 2023