Old Iron

Inter an early Kiwi icon Story & Photos: Gavin Abbot

N THE FIRST HALF OF LAST CENTURY, TRUCKS MADE BY NORTH

America’s International Harvester Company played a big part in

New Zealand’s early trucking history – from the earliest days of horseless wagons. It helped, of course, that IH was also a leading agricultural machinery manufacturer – and thus had agents spread right across NZ. Good aftersales backup for the trucks was a major contributor to International’s Kiwi success.

The company constantly improved the technology and reliability of its models – and NZ saw most of the Inter models that were manufactured in the make’s first 40 years.

One model in particular set the standard in NZ – and became the country’s best-selling 6x4: The D246F – part of the D Series that International began building in 1937.

It was the forerunner to other popular models, the K/KB and L/R190, that followed International’s pause in commercial truck production during World War 2, while it focused all of its manufacturing on the American war effort.

The International Harvester Company was created in 1902, but its beginnings actually extended back seven decades before that.

The global company was created by the merger of the Chicagobased McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and the Deering Harvester Company, plus three smaller American farming equipment manufacturers.

Its original roots lay with inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick’s 1831 unveiling of a horse-drawn reaper – which became the major Top: Waipawa, Hawke’s Bay transport operator Sep Stephenson with one of his D35 Internationals Above: A 1910 International Harvester Auto Buggy, pictured at a truck show in Hora Hora, NZ

Top: Allan Abbot’s Model K International. His son Les is in the cab Above left: Ironsides’ OTC International D246F with 10-ton of bagged coal at the Taneatua railhead Above right: Paul Gleeson’s beautifully-restored International C40

contributor to progress in farming of the times.

Farmers were quick to take to the machine, but production was a slow, handcrafted process. Still, by 1844, 50 harvesters were being built annually.

William Deering had founded his agricultural machinery company in 1859 and – after his engineers designed and built a small twocylinder, watercooled engine – he gave a self-propelled farm vehicle its first trial in 1892.

After further testing he seriously considered manufacturing cars instead…before deciding to stay true to his original idea.

At the same time, there had been similar developments under way at McCormick…and at the three other future partners: Warder, Bushnell & Glasser of Springfield, Ohio; Chicago’s Plano Manufacturing Company and the Milwaukee Harvester Company.

After the five companies joined forces to create IHC, some of the McCormick engineers left and purchased a plant in Keystone, Illinois to build their own farm vehicle. Their Auto Buggy was a success – to the point that, in 1905, International bought the business out.

And in 1907 the first IHC Auto Buggy (Auto Wagon) models were produced. They were specifically designed for farmers, with express bodies and big wheels to deal with rutted roads. A rear seat could be fitted, or the space used for cargo.

In 1910, the mounting of the petrol tank at the front made the Auto Buggy more attractive – and it had the IHC badge added. A

It helped, of course, that IH was also a leading agricultural machinery manufacturer...

four-cylinder vertical, watercooled engine was designed for it.

In 1915, a new line of trucks was introduced – a one ton Model F, a two-ton Model G, a three-quarter ton H and a one and a half ton K. These models, which had the radiator mounted behind the fourcylinder engines, under a sloping bonnet, continued through till 1921. They were all built at IHC’s factory in Akron, Ohio.

In 1921, production of the new Model S International Speed trucks began – at the completely rebuilt farm machinery plant in Springfield. They shifted the radiator to the front.

To meet growing demand, another new factory was built in Fort Wayne, Indiana,

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Opposite page: Stephenson Transport, Waipawa, still has this superbly-restored Model S Speed International Above: Toa Toa sawmiller Jim Hustler takes a break, leaning on the guard of the Hustler & Company’s Model C300

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Top: A lineup of new C Model Internationals at the company’s Auckland branch Above: In its time, the D246F was the NZ’s best-selling 6x4 – and was used in a wide variety of applications, logging included

in 1923, and new heavy 94, 33, 43, 53, 63 and 103 models were introduced. They came with four or six-cylinder engine options.

Six years later, IHC entered the heavy-duty market with the Hall Scott-powered HS54, HS74 and HS104 models.

A year later and more models arrived: The two and three-ton A4, A5 and A6 models were powered by the IH six-cylinder FBB engines.

The full range for 1932 comprised six A series models – A1 to A6 and three Ws....1,2 and 3. Later IHC added the A7 and A8.

In 1933 came the Willys-built D-1 – a quarter-ton light truck (a pickup in the US). And in ’34 it introduced the restyled C Type, with a new V-style radiator/grille, a flat windscreen and sweeping mudguards. It continued, with a full range of models, through to 1936.

In 1935 IH delivered the first of its cabover models, the C300.

The big news though was the arrival, the same year, of the C40F tandem-drive, which immediately became the tandem-drive sales leader.

IHC was also the first company to do a deal with Hendrickson to run its suspension system.

The success of the IH trucks showed in its sales – with over 100,000 trucks built in 1936 to meet the demand.

Innovations included the introduction of metro bodies in 1938, to cater for multi-stop deliveries.

IHC introduced its new K Line of trucks in 1940….and a year later achieved a milestone one millionth truck built.

But with the outbreak of war between USA and Japan, the K Line production was halted as the company devoted its entire production to the war effort – building military trucks, armoured-half-tracks and other military hardware. T&D

Opposite page, top: An original IH spec sheet for the pre-WW2 D246F Opposite page, bottom: Rotorua Carrying Company had already clocked up one million miles on its 1938 D246F International by 1956, when this photo was taken – celebrating the arrival of the latest addition to its fleet, an R195 Inter This page, clockwise from top: A pair of Amalgamated Transport, Gisborne, D246Fs....British Pavements CH.....Marlborough Transport Inter with a towering load of hay.....H. Smith’s Nelson-Westport Freight Service Inter....tidy Transport Nelson unit

Top: Ex-United States Army International M-3-4 4x4 run by Timber Transport, Te Whaiti Above: Gisborne operator Colin Kirk’s D246F at the Taneatua railway station in 1938