TRACTOR TALK

FRENCH-BUILT 1953 FARMALL SUPER FC-DD

International Harvester had its red tendrils all over the globe. Even before International Harvester Company (IHC) was formed in 1902 by combining Mccormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, the founding Mccormick family had a long history of doing business in Europe. It’s no surprise that after many years of doing business in France, an IH factory would be opened there.

At first, Mccormick exported products to sell through individual dealers in France. After the formation of IHC in 1902, the business relationships solidified; and, by 1906, IHC entered into an agreement with two businessmen, Raymond Wallut and Ets Faul, to distribute product.

Faul formed Compagnie Internationale des Machines Agricoles (CIMA) and distributed mostly the Deering-branded products. Wallut handled the Deering-branded items through a company bearing his name. In 1934, CIMA and Wallut merged to become Cima-wallut, distributing Deering and Mccormick products, as well as other products. By the end of the 1930s, this company was the largest farm equipment distributor in France.

World War II put a temporary halt to the IH relationship, as well as many other things, but by 1948, CIMA (“Wallut” was dropped from the name) had picked up the pieces and gone back to work.

Marshal Plan Boost

By 1950, CIMA had purchased a good-sized factory in Saint Dizier, France, and modernized it with money from the European Recovery Program (more commonly known as the Marshall Plan), via which $12 billion dollars of U.S. economic assistance was used to put Europe back on its feet. At that time, France’s farming industry was behind many other European countries and was mostly importing products.

The French government began to heavily promote and boost the domestic ag manufacturing industry by setting limits on imports. As a result, IHC and CIMA reached an agreement to assemble the Farmall C—a tractor well-suited to French farms—from parts manufactured in the United States. The first one rolled off the line in 1951. As soon as possible, CIMA was to increase the domestically manufactured content of the tractor.

Powerplants

The French-built 1951 Farmall C would be called the FC (the “F” stood for “France”) and would be badged Mccormick International. When equipped with a C-113 (113 ci) gas engine, it was an FC-C (“C” for “carburetor”).

A diesel was on the hot list as well, and because IH in the United States didn’t build a small diesel, it came from the IH plant in Neuss, Germany. The 1948–’54 Farmall C, or Super C in the United States, didn’t have a diesel option and never did. European farmers wanted diesels as soon as possible—and they got them in 1952!

The Neuss DF-124 engine was 124 cubic inches (3.125 bore

x 4-inch stroke) and rated at 25 hp. Tractors so equipped were designated FC-N (“N” for “Neuss”). Also for 1952, an improved, more-powerful gas engine came from the United States, and the line was given the “Super” designation, as it had been in the United States.

By 1953, the Saint Dizier factory had produced 10,000 tractors and had begun the manufacture of engines, both gas and diesel. Until 1953, the C-123 gasoline engines were coming from the States. For 1953, the Saint Dizier plant began building them in-house— the FC-123. It also began manufacturing a diesel based on the same architecture; it was called the FD-123. Tractors so equipped became the Super FC-D and were built into 1957. A distillate fuel tractor, the Super FC-E, was also built. Anecdotal reports commonly say the Neuss diesel, also based on the C-123, was a better powerplant than the FD-123, but French pride dictated a homebuilt diesel (and especially not a German one)—and so did French economics. The engine improved as time went on.

By the time the FC-D ended production in 1957 and was replaced by the Farmall 235 models, the Saint Dizier factory was humming along very well. CIMA became International Harvester France (IHF) in 1960 and continued to expand.

The IHF tractors followed the American designs but were adapted for the French and European markets. For 1980, IHF celebrated the 300,000th IH tractor built in France.

At that time, IHF was in better financial shape than its parent company. When International Harvester dissolved in 1985, there was some financial and governmental turmoil in France over the disposition of IHF, but eventually, it followed the American company into the Case-international organization. Starting in 1989, the Saint Dizier plant made only transmissions, but the foundry was closed in 2001. The rest of the factory has since been sold.

 The working end shows off the FC-D’S three-point hitch, swinging drawbar and PTO. Either belt-drive or splined PTO units could be used.  An American farmer would have no trouble with this layout. It’s largely the same as the Super C sold here, in the States. The Boylens family owns this nicely restored 1953 Farmall FC-D—A French translation of the Farmall C. The FC-D was also built as a utility-type tractor. These were popular tractors in France, although they were reported to not be as durable as American-built tractors, at least initially. One of the main problems was reported to be with the final drives due to the very poor bearings being produced in Europe at the time. These problems were soon resolved. As on many European tractors, this one has the mandated lights, mirrors and even a horn. This one has a narrow front axle, but these tractors were available with an optional wide front.