FARM SHOW Writer's First Tractor

August 15, 2018

Farmall Super M-ta 1954

By Lorn Manthey, Contributing Editor

This picture shows two of my grandsons in front of a Farmall Super M-TA at a local county fair. It's very similar to a tractor my dad bought new in 1954. I started driving that one at age 8 in 1956. We used it to pull a 3-bottom plow and also disked, baled hay, hauled manure, chopped silage, ground feed, planted and later mounted a 2-row corn picker on it that my dad used for years. The TA, or torque amplifier, was activated by a lever to the left of the seat. You could pull back on it to lower the gear ratio and provide more torque in tough conditions. The tractor also had ‘live’ pto and dual action hydraulics, which was great for putting a plow in the ground. These were - and still are - excellent tractors. New they cost about $1,800. Today a nicely restored model like this goes for about $4,000. My sister still has the one my dad bought.