Farmall · Letter Series series

Farmall B

Name: Farmall B
Brand: Farmall

Row-crop tractor · 1939–1947 · Gasoline

The Farmall B was International Harvester's two-row counterpart to the Farmall A, introduced in 1939 with the same C-113 engine but a narrow centerline front axle in place of the A's offset wide front end. This layout suited farmers cultivating two rows at once rather than the A's single offset row. Over 75,000 were built through 1947, when it was succeeded by the Farmall Cub and the broader Letter Series refresh.

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Photo: Acroterion. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.

belt power: 18.4 hp
Displacement: 113 ci (1.9 L)
Total built: 75,241

Overview
Type	Row-crop
Series	Letter Series
Production	1939–1947
Factory	Chicago, Illinois / Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Total built	75,241
Original price	$535 (1940 USD)

Engine
Make	International Harvester
Model	C-113
Fuel	Gasoline
Cylinders	4
Displacement	113 ci (1.9 L)
Cooling	liquid-cooled
Aspiration	Naturally aspirated

Power
Drawbar power	16.2 hp (12.1 kW)
Belt power	18.4 hp (13.7 kW)
Nebraska test	Nebraska Test 331

Transmission
Transmission	sliding-gear — 4 forward, 1 reverse
Chassis	4x2 2WD, narrow centerline front
Steering	manual
Brakes	mechanical

Hydraulics & hitch
Rear PTO	transmission
PTO speed	540 rpm

History

The Farmall B arrived alongside the A in 1939 as IH rounded out the low end of its new streamlined Letter Series. Mechanically the two were nearly twins, sharing the same four-cylinder C-113 engine, but the B swapped the A's offset engine-and-seat arrangement for a narrow, centrally mounted front axle, with the seat offset to preserve some of the A's clear sightlines. This made the B better suited to two-row cultivation work, while the A remained the choice for single-row market-garden use.

Built in Chicago and Louisville, the B found favor with small and mid-size farms needing an affordable, nimble tractor for row-crop work. Nebraska Test 331 recorded slightly lower output than the A's Test 329, a product of the B's added weight and different gearing rather than a different engine. IH retired the B in 1947 as the Letter Series matured, with its niche eventually absorbed by later small-tractor offerings including the Cub and the Super A.

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