red radio is it for a Cub?

[Clem]

I bought a early 50's Cub and under the floor pan there is a red steel radio.I opened up the radio and found that it is a glass tube radio. Was this an add on choice from the IH company or just something the PO had put on at the dealership back in the 50's?

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

I don't think IH ever sold a radio for a cub. It may have been from another model tractor, or even an old car or truck radio htat has been repainted.

[Eugene]

Could be a radio manufactured for tractors. There were a number sold in the 50's and early 60's. Most of the radios were installed in a metal case which was usually mounted on tractor fenders. Biggest problem was that everyone within 1/4 mile could hear the radio except the tractor operator.

[dyt4000]

Actually, IH did make radios an accessory at one point. This is from a 1969 catalog....

[Jackman]

Well that is a neat option, bet its super duper rare, wish I had one........ Thanks for posting the pic.. Clem does yours look like that?

[allenlook]

$65 in 1969 would make them pretty rare!

[artc]

a tube type radio on a tractor would not work for very long. the filiments being very fragile and power consumption is very high.

transister type radios were a marvel of the early 60's, as i recall

i sure would like to own one of those hood mounted radios now.

anyone ever seen one?

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

They show up occasionally on Ebay and at shows/swap meets. They were more often sold for the bigger tractors where you spent a lot of time on them. Many had a cover that slid over the front to protect it form the elements.

[dyt4000]

Here's a John Deere model...about the same...

http://cgi.ebay.com/JOHN-DEERE-TRACTOR- ... dZViewItem

[Virginia Mike]

The Cub was the lowest priced tractor in the IH line. It didn't come with a radio, it had a song book.
Best,
Mike

[Bus Driver]

Sears sold tractor radios. Perhaps with the Allstate brand name.

[Bus Driver]

By the time that solid-state electronics became commonplace, most vehicle systems were 12 volts. I never saw a solid-state vehicle radio for 6 volts. The old radios used vacuum tubes. The tube filaments were heated by the vehicle power. Thus the first number on the tube would indicate the filament voltage, like a 6 or 12, then a letter would follow that. The filament warmup time caused the radio to delay sound output when turned on. Filament voltage is the "A" voltage. Those radios got rather warm. The vibrator created a crude AC current which was fed to a transformer, stepped up to about 120 volts and then rectified back to DC for the "B" voltage, which did everthing except heat the filaments. The OZ4 tube was a gas rectifier which had no filament, thus reducing the heat and current draw. Good OZ4 tubes are hard to find, but a resonably competent technician could today install diodes in a bridge circuit to replace the sometimes-troublesome OZ4. 6 volt vehicle radios were typically the very best quality, superb noise filtering built-in. We used to use a 120 volt -to-6 volt transformer for the tube filaments, supply 120 volts to the "B" rectifier and use an old vehicle radio in the shop supplied by 120 volts AC. Shop equipment and flourescents seldom caused any problem for those radios. 6 volt FM radios were very seldom seen. Few FM stations at that time.

[JBall8019]

speaking of a tractor accesories, has anyone seen a cub that has been pimped out with mag wheels, neon lights, dvd player coffee can style muffler and speakers? i have seen the radio in the ad being used when i was a kid. when i think back now about it, i dont think the tractor made too much noise. the old man loves listening to baseball games. i doubt that a riding mower would conme with a radio option
john

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Nowadays people would jsut buy a headphone radio/mp3 player

[Bus Driver]

More tractor radio trivia: Sears, for a few years, published a separate auto parts catalog. I believe that the last such catalog was in 1962. My copy (bless my understanding wife!) shows a tractor radio, apparently newly introduced. It was "All transistor, 6 or 12 volt, positive or negative ground". Catalog number 28VA5066K, $67.95. Significant money for 1962, $3.00 per hour was considered good wages then. Should you find such a radio, the catalog number shown most likely would not be the number on the radio.
The catalog lists also several tractor parts, especially electrical. A careful of the Sears catalog numbers shows that many car parts also fit the tractors, especially if originally Delco parts.