A different kind of Original

[john hall]

Thanks for the comments guys! Dad worked for an IH dealer from 68-91, he and the owner retired at the same time. The building was one that fit the IH requirement in that it had the large glass front with the huge pylon on top. No one bought the business so everything was auctioned off. We actually went a couple years here in town with no Cadet dealer. IH pulled the tractor contract about the same time as the Tenneco buyout. Fortunately the dealer was able to keep the parts contract. Farming was on the way out here by the early 80's anyway. Cadet, Echo, some air cooled lines and IH parts kept the doors open. We are/were smack in the middle of tobacco country so nobody here used Cadets for gardening, why should they with such an abundance of the offset series tractors? Literally, you can't throw a rock without hitting one.

Back to the dealership. Originally they were full line, tractors, trucks, construction, refrigeration, and Cadets. The guy that ran the truck division passed away so that dept. was closed. IH wanted exclusive construction dealers so dad's dealer could only sell backhoes, and a couple small dozers and maybe forklifts. Obviously at one time Cadets were just a sideline, the money was in the big stuff. Eventually IH parts and Cadets were the vast majority of the business. I used to go hang out with my dad at the dealership when he worked Saturdays. For a farm kid it was great, lots of stuff to "play" with. The dealership had an IH forklift, a 60's model IH pickup (3 on the tree), and a 70's 16 or 1700 Loadstar with a 21 ft tilt bed. I got to run all 3 as I got older and worked there part time. The shop was well equipped for working on lawnmowers---it was all carry over from what IH required their tractor and truck dealers to have. Lots of IH wrenches too! I still remember the wrench boards with IH and Wright tools hanging above the parts counter.

By the time they closed up in 91, they only had a couple customers still running Originals, I only recall seeing a couple come in the shop. I remember the day my 2072 along with another and a zero-turn Woods were repossessed--guy that owned them was a commercial mower and died in a motorcycle wreck. His widow finished out the contracts and then gave everything up. I honestly know where my 2072 was from the day it arrived in town, even though it was over 20 years before I bought it, I'm the third owner and me or dad has been directly involved with every wrench put on it.

The dealer dad worked for was pretty smart about selecting equipment for sale. He would only choose Cadets that looked like sure fire sellers with a reasonable deck combination. He didn't believe in too much deck or too much HP (although the HP thing is a more recent trend I see). By keeping variety to a reasonable minimum it was much easier to have parts on the shelf. It seemed during the busy spring and summer months orders would be phoned in every couple of days. Some Saturday morning we would sell 3 or 4 of the same belt. Tie rod ends came in by the bag full! ( I hate to admit it but Deere got it right by using the next size larger). All the engine parts came from Kohler or Briggs, no sense paying a markup to Cadet or IH. When dad retired, the dealer gave him all the parts books for Cadet. Dad worked on tons of Cadets here in the farm shop until the fleet finally got so old it was retired. Yesterday he opened the 682 parts book and found where they had written in the serial number of the machine we just brought home.

You would be amazed at how many people did not know what model Cadet they owned. You'd ask and their reply would be, it's about a 76 model. I have honestly watched folks call home and send someone out to the shed to get the model number off the hood. The dealer got smart and set-up a card file with the customers name, Cadet model, deck model, and any notes like a replacement engine that was larger. It was nothing for a guy to come in and say I need "(whatever)". We'd ask what model, to which he replied I don't know but if you look in that little green box over there you'll find out everything you need to know.

I remember when the Cadets came in they were in cardboard boxes on wooden pallets. There was a dotted line you were supposed to follow to cut them open. I didn't one day and got to buy the rear tire on a 1315/20. I always hated putting the decks under those and trying to get them leveled.
Some of the Cadets went to the showroom, the others would be driven in and out of the back every day. We'd be late closing up on a Saturday and I'd be in a hurry, I'd come flying in the back and slam the hydro in neutral--left plenty of blackmarks on the floor! I remember dad telling about some of the earlier Cadet shipments that would be packed to the top of a semi. The cadets were too high to come under the door so they had to slide the top one down boards to the floor of the truck.

I never heard of any supply problems with Cadets during the IH strike in the 70's, I'll have to ask about that one. I do know farm parts and equipment got to be a bit problematic. I do remember the strike being the topic of dinner conversation more than once.

Back then, they viewed only Deere as a competitor, everything else was considered inferior. Even the dealership wasn't real fond of the lightweights such as a 382, the little white fiberglass rear engine models, etc. The problem was the 1XX series had created a reputation for being fabulous machines that could take abuse and still last 25+ years as the sole mower on a property. Now you had folks coming in expecting the same quality for 1/3 the price---it got ugly some days at the parts counter.

One of the fun things I got to do was test mow---everything leaving the shop HAD to be taken to the field out back and tested. I got to run all kinds of Cadets and a few other brands---they would work on any Kohler or Briggs engine.


Wow I have gotten long winded and it appears I have mixed in some of my memories as well ( I eventually worked there part time until they closed).
Thanks for letting me ramble. There are other tales to tell but most of them are about farm equipment.

[jaynjeep]

WOW John!

Great story.. You and your dad sure do have a lot of history with IH!

My uncle worked with IH for about ten years 55-65 I think.. but that was before my time.. I heard a lot of stories similar to what you just told about getting the equipment in and unboxing/setting it all up. Then delivering it to the customer. We had an IH refrigerator that worked up into the 90's... My uncle delivered it new to my grandparents in the late 1950's.

We had a similar dealer here up until 2000.. It closed after the owner passed away and none of his family had any interest in it... They were a cadet dealer up until the end... I have a 782 that I sat on new in the showroom in 1980 when I was a kid. The parts guy opened his own truck and tractor business and picked cub cadet back up.. He can still rattle off all the common cadet part numbers.. The guy must have 45-50 years experience with IH and cub cadet and Navistar by now!

There is one of those dealerships about 50 miles away that still has the big pylon and glass windows like you talk about.. the place is still going strong... it's a time warp to walk in there.. they still have the same parts counter with the long rows of parts bins with single incandescent light bulbs hanging in the rows.. Its the only one I know that is still in operation.. Case IH is pushing them to build a new building, but so far they have resisted..

Thanks again for the stories.. I am very interested to hear any other stories that you or your dad may have!

[ACecil]

Great story, John! Thanks for sharing.

[zippy1]

Great story it would be great to sit down with your father and listen to his story's of the IH days. Good or bad

[bocephus1991]

Very cool story! I know the original owner of my 1200 dad bought it from him. Dean the guy dad bought it from was a ih salesman and worked on small engines. I can still remember the dealership. Dean bought the 1200 for his son to pull with because it was the largest hp gear drive you could get. He mowed and pulled with it a year or two, lost interest then my dad bought it. Dean still owns a cub dealership in boonville mo. He told us about pulling IH round balers back from Kansas City on I-70 to boonville running 70 mph!!!! Dad also had an IH 886 built near the time of the strike. It was built from whatever parts they had. It had a cab that was supposed to be on a 986, because the tag on the inside if the cab had the tractor model# on it and it had I-986 stamped onto it. I like reading and hearing old stories like these, very cool ! Thanks for sharing!