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The Literature Rack
By Gordy Shultz

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Last month we looked at the early history of White 4WD tractors including the Oliver and Minneapolis Moline brands sales literature from 1969-1973.  This month the Literature Rack will complete the story of the White 4 WD line and show you various White Field Boss brochures from 1973-1987.  Since the 1960’s, the White Motor Company’s farm equipment division included Oliver, Minneapolis Moline, and Cockshutt.  These three brands allowed White to realize substantial economies by consolidating manufacturing and general service facilities without suffering a loss of overall market penetration.   During the 1960’s and 1970’s a natural pattern of manufacturing and distribution emerged from White that used interchangeable products across all three brands.  It allowed White to emerge as a leading producer of farm equipment. 










White a new identity in
farming for 1974 		1974 White Farm Equipment Line Buyers Guide for the United States with White, Oliver and Minneapolis-Moline Products
In 1974, the White Buyer’s Guide in the United States featured Oliver and Minneapolis Moline and in Canada Cockshutt.  Both the US and Canadian full line catalogues featured the all new White 4-150 4WD tractor.  The sales literature exclaimed “Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen Before!”  The 4-150 was the first tractor with the White “Boss Line Styling and the first to be marketed as a White.”  White’s new identity included sleek form fitting sheet metal and an all new silvery charcoal gray paint scheme.  The 4-150 was powered by a Caterpillar V8 engine oscillation at the center of the unit with articulated power steering.    

1974 White Farm Equipment Line Buyers Guide for the Canadian Market with White and Cockshutt products.  The 1975 White buyers guide debuts the Boss Line White 4-150 Brochure

The 4-150 blazed a trail for White’s grand unveiling “Of the Boss Line in 1975.”  Oliver’s clover green Moline’s prairie gold and Cockshutt’s big red were retired to the history books in favor of silver.    The 150 HP 4-150 was joined in 1975 by the 180 HP 4-180 Field Boss.  This new powerful 4 WD offered options such as an air conditioner, heater, and a protective roll over cab.  In 1978, the big 4-210 joined the Boss Line.  The cab included the latest improvements such as a reduced sound level of 81.0 decibels.  The dash provided a 14 channel monitoring display in an 8 channel digital display of speeds and temperatures.  Night visibility was improved by adding two headlights at the top of the grill.  The   4-210 offered a maximum HP of 210.  In 1979, the original 4-150 was updated and became the 4-175.  Again the new model number reflected the HP of the engine.  The 4-175 was updated with many of the same features as the 4-210. 

As the Boss Line offered new power and products, the company went into a corporate crisis.  In May 1976, Consolidated Industries and the White Motor Corporation were planning to merge, but plans collapsed the day before stock holders were to vote on the merger.  This situation left the future of White Motor in doubt because the company had lost 69 million dollars in 1975 and its share of the truck market was declining.  Speculation quickly grew that White Motors would sell it’s White Farm Equipment division to ease its troubles.  In 1977, Consolidated Freightways Inc. took over distribution of its freightliner trucks and thus White Motor lost 40 % of its truck sales.  By September 1980, the White Motor Corporation simply ran out of money and was forced to file for Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy code.  That November, White announced it would sell the farm equipment line to the TIC Investment Corporation of Dallas, Texas.  TIC resumed farm equipment production in 1981 as WFE (White Farm Equipment). 

White 4-180 Ad White 4-210 Brochure White 4-175 Brochure
White 4-150 Brochure White 4-180 Ad White 4-210 Brochure
In 1982, WFE told its dealers that two new 4WD models were on the way.  The new tractors included the 225 HP 4-225 and the 270 HP.  The 4-225 replaced the 4-175 and 4-210 but its styling and configuration were very similar.  Its wheel tread was adjustable and this 4 WD could be used for row crop work.  The 4-270 featured a new larger articulated frame that included a wider hood and grill and its larger tires gave it a massive appearance.  Both tractors continued to feature V8 Caterpillar engines.  The 4-225 continued to use the same transmission that was used on past Field Boss and Oliver/Minneapolis Moline 4WD’s.  The big 4-270 featured a 4x4 power transmission which was 10 years in development.  The cabs were updated with sound deadening insulation that reduced the inside noise level to 78 decibels.  Unlike many competitive 4 WD tractors, an independent 1000 RPM PTO was standard equipment for both models. 

The WFE 4 WD’s were produced from late 1982-1988.  Once again the White Farm Equipment Line fell on hard times and TIC sold the division to Allied Products.  Allied owned the New Idea Equipment line and soon formed White-New Idea.  The new company decided to end production of the 4 WD tractor line because they are special row crop niche could not compete against the high horse power 300- 400 Steiger, Versatile and John Deere 4 wheel drive tractors. 

I hope you have enjoyed this and last month’s article featuring the history of White and its Four Wheel Drive sales Literature. Next month we will continue with a four wheel drive tractor theme by looking at the fabled ROME’s.  

New at the Literature Rack
AGCO dealers now have the new 8400 series Massey-Ferguson brochure on the literature rack.  The 19 page brochure features the specification of the new 180-240 hp tractors.  The big new 240 hp 8480 is featured on AGCO implements through out the guide.
The new MT600B wheeled tractor brochure is out at Challenger dealers.  The new 600B series features 180-240 hp tractors with the AGCO Power-Maxx CVT.  The brochure shows the big new 240 hp MT665B.  The tractor shares the same lines as the big MT700B and MT800B series tracked tractors.  The MT600B series now has the same roof as the tracked machines.  Interestingly the entire brochure was photographed in Hopkinsville, KY on Garnett Farms.  Hopkinsville, KY is the home of The Toy Tractor Times and our publisher Jason Hasert makes several visits to Garnett Farms a year.