Tractor of the Week

The tractor for this week is the Ford 4000 by Scale Models.




The four-cylinder (1962-1965) Ford 4000 series tractors were nearly identical to the 801 and 901 series tractors.




The 4000 was built in Highland Park, Michigan between 1962 and 1965.




According to Tractordata.com, three types of fuel were offered in a 172 cubic inch four cylinder. These included gasoline, diesel and LP.




Ford claimed the regular gas engine made 55 hp and 46 at the PTO.










This 1/12 scale Ford 4000 casting has quite the history. It's actually a Hubley casting from the mid to late 1960s. In 1981, CBS Toys, which controlled Hubley, sold many castings to Scale Models. These included tractors issued between 1/32 and 1/12 scales, buses, as well as large scale cars among others.



Scale Models issued this 4000 with a narrow front end in 1982 in the 'Models of the 1960s' series which comprised exclusively of these Hubley castings. The wide front end version that I have was issued in 1996 and to my knowledge Scale Models still issues Hubley castings yearly.

The only notable difference between the efforts of Hubley and Scale Models is that SC eliminated the 3 point hitch and uses plastic rear rims in place of metal ones found on the original Hubley.

This model was purchased at the Mattoon, IL New Holland dealer for less than $32 in the summer of 2010. Scale Models continues to become a larger part of my collection. The reuse of castings is frowned upon in some segments of the hobby, but I think the way that Scale Models has used this process is a great measure to continue the legacy of Hubley toys made here in the USA specifically from the days of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.




The original Hubley version from the 1960s.