Case IH and farmers celebrate 100 years of the Farmall tractor

Case IH's Farmall has stood the test of time and this year's milestone will be a chance for owners and collectors of the iconic tractor to celebrate the long history of the machine.

There are hundreds of Farmall collectors across Australia and New Zealand, including Tom Horwood at Inverell, NSW.

Mr Horwood runs Rural Wrecking Co, a tractor buying, dismantling and spare parts specialty business, but in what spare time he has, he's also a passionate Farmall collector, and has been for the past 40 years.

He said his passion began as a teenager when he started a mechanic apprenticeship with Inverell Harvester, the local International dealer.

This job brought him into contact with a lot of International tractors, including the Farmall.

His interest in the International brand was ignited, and in his 20s he started his tractor collection.

"I worked on a lot of Farmalls during those years and just developed a real fascination for them," Mr Horwood said.

"They have such a rich history, so when I started to collect tractors, they were high on my list.

"Collecting them just gets into your blood and I won't be stopping any time soon."

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Mr Horwood now has a collection of tractors - of all brands - that numbers in the hundreds at the family farm at Inverell, from where he runs his business.

He has many old Farmalls, 40 of them actually in working order, with his oldest a Farmall Regular from the late 1920s.

The legacy of Farmall continues today with more than 30 models to choose from and this tractor series will continue to evolve alongside the needs of farmers.

Case IH Australia/New Zealand mid-horsepower and compact tractors product manager Seamus McCarthy said the Farmall was a much-loved tractor right around the world and fulfilled a range of tasks in so many different farming operations.

"Whether it's a utility tractor for a broadacre operation, or the principal tractor for a small horticulture business, it's importance and relevance across so many decades is really unmatched for any other tractor model," he said.

Mr Horwood's collection will feature as part of a centenary event Case IH is holding in Inverell later this year to celebrate the Farmall.

1923: International Harvester engineer Bert R Benjamin designs the first Farmall prototype

1931: The F series is presented for farmers with more acreage

1939: Second-generation Farmall designed by Raymond Loewy

1941: Farmall introduces the world's first diesel row crop tractor

1947: The one millionth Farmall rolls off the line

1958: The most popular tractor in the US, the Farmall 560 is introduced

1965: Farmall is the first two-wheel drive row crop tractor to exceed 100 horsepower

1974: Case IH sells its five millionth Farmall - the first tractor to ever reach that number

2003: Case IH continues to expand the line-up of products spanning from 31hp to 105hp