Collection of International (and other) Front Wheel Assist Tractors

[Urbish]

While visiting family over the holidays, I checked out a relative's collection of mostly International Harvester FWA tractors. I thought you guys would like to see the photos.

[Urbish]

Here are some more:

[Urbish]

And some more:

[Urbish]

Plus his Massey Harris GP and Harry Lee's Triple F-30

[outdoors4evr]

Looks almost like a museum!

[Urbish]

Looks almost like a museum!

At one time he had almost 100 and did run a pseudo-museum. He sold most of those over 10 years ago, but has since resumed collecting:

[Don McCombs]

What's the difference between FWA and 4WD? Thanks.

[Urbish]

What's the difference between FWA and 4WD? Thanks.

The answer to that could be as varied as the answer to, "What is the best oil for my Cub?".

Neither term is properly defined or used with a consistent meaning between the engineering, marketing, and end user groups. My take as an engineer and an end user group member (pronounced 'enthusiast' in my case) is that FWA tractors typically have different tire sizes front and rear, were available as a rear wheel drive model, allow the operator to engage the front axle drive as required, and have little to no differences from the rear wheel drive models outside of the front axle and PTO shaft connection. 4WD tractors, on the other hand, typically have equal size tires front and rear (but not always), have running gear for the front axle that is integral to the tractor. By MY definition, all of the tractors pictured here are FWA, with the exception of the Massey GP (4WD), and the Triple F-30.