Saturday, August 02, 2014

Cockshutt Tractors

Cockshutt Plow Company was a Canadian agricultural equipment manufacturer that launched its own tractor line after World War Two.

The very aerodynamic Cockshutt 20 Deluxe, obviously shaped to take advantage of its 25 horsepower.

Streamliner prow

Cockpit of the Raymond Loewy-sculpted Cockshutt 570...

...which caught our eye for the interesting double-sided tachometer/speedometer.

6 comments:

mostly cajun said...

That tachy-speedy thing was common on a lot of tractors of the era including my great-uncle's Ford 9N. It's based on the idea that those big tires don't slip, so engine RPM is tied directly by gearbox ratios to some variety of forward speed.

Anonymous said...

The first PTOs were geared to the rear axle. The tractor had to be in motion for it to turn and the PTO speed was fixed to the ground speed. It was a less than ideal setup, if the hay was particularly thick in one area it would overload the mower and most balers had their own engine to make them work.

The 'live' PTO was pioneered by Cockshutt in '49 or '50. The live PTO is driven by a separate shaft independent of the transmission making it possible for the PTO to turn while the tractor is stationary. It was such an improvement that Cockshutt sold huge numbers and every other maker was left in the cold until they copied it.

You'll note the white 'PTO RPM' band, you would set the throttle to turn the PTO at 540rpm and leave it there and then select your gear to give the speed recommended by the manufacturer of the implement. Raking hay is done in a higher gear than mowing hay which in turn is done in a higher gear than baling but the PTO speed is the same for all three operations. Some manure and fertilizer spreaders will specify ground speeds for thin, medium or heavy coverage.

Al_in_Ottawa

Darrell said...

If it was really modern design, it would've had a cupholder. ;^)

Kristophr said...

Tractor drag racing Winternationals!

Anonymous said...

I believe Cockshutt also the inventor of "live" PTO where the PTO didn't stop when the clutch was depressed which is how every tractor to that point worked.

I grew up driving 2 30's (one a repainted "E3" after Co-Op stopped branding them and painting them orange) a 20, which is still in the family, and a 550 row crop.

Jack said...

Dad's Cockshutt 30 had a live PTO and I'm pretty sure it was a 1947 model. First production was in 1946 but the '46 model may not have had the live PTO. We ran the 30 until 1968, then ran a Cockshutt 560 which had problems in 1969. I replace it with a new Cockshutt 1750 which was one of my better moves.