The Classic 64th Implements of Spring

Dan Adamson is an avid 1/64 collector and has one of the most complete collections of Ertl 1/64 farm toys in the Nation. You can read more about Dan at http://www.toytractorshow.com/dan_adamson.htm

      Winter is finally winding down.  Some of us are already mowing our lawns, while others are still shoveling snow.  But when spring arrives so does the time to start plowing and planting.  What a good time to talk about what Ertl has provided in the past to use on carpet farms.  While most of you know what is available today many of you are not familiar with the older equipment that we had to settle for in the past.

            One the first implements available were the chisel plows. These models were introduced in the early 80's.  They had no specific markings or decals in which to specify them as a particular brand.  Only the color varied to represent the different OEMs.

        They were first available in blue, red and orange.  The obvious bright IH red was also accompanied by a dull, slightly darker red.  It didn’t take long before this was considered to be a MF red.  The orange chisel plows also came in two shades.  A lighter orange and a darker orange were sought to separate them into an Allis Chalmers and a Case category.  Unfortunately a John Deere green was never offered, possibly due to a licensing agreement. The International chisel plows can be found in three more variations.  A white rim, a cream rim, and a red rim model are available.  I have not seen a gray rim version.  The orange chisel plows also come with rim variations.  The dark and light models can each be found with a white or an orange rim.  The ford model has a light gray rim.

            When the mergers started there were more opportunities and colors for Ertl to add to the line up.  Deutz Allis was added in a light green with dark gray rims.  Around this time is also when Ertl purchased the Mini Toy line.  The most important part of the acquisition was the rights to the Hesston line.  The tenth variation in the chisel plow line is a Hesston.  This one is brown with white rims. 

       The nicest models and the last in the series so far were introduced in 1989.  The Wil-rich chisel plows were to be introduced.  These would be the first and only chisel plows to have a name associated with them.  There are Wil-rich decals on the tongue and on the back of both models.  Both are also special edition models.  One represents the 25th anniversary of the Wil-rich company and the other is a 1st edition Wil-rich chisel plow.  The 25th anniversary edition has the name Wil-rich on the back and on the hitch, while the anniversary edition has the words Wil-rich chisel plow in both locations.

            Before we had the nicely detailed CIH 1200, the John Deere 1790 and the new Kinze planters we were forced to farm with a crude 4 row IH 800 planter.  The IH planter became old news though when Ertl released the John Deere 7200 Maxmerge twelve row planter.  At the time this was released Ertl had not come out with anything in 1/64 with this much detail and intricate parts. 

            There is only one variation with the John Deere 7200.  This might not have been a big deal or even considered a variation in most models, but it was the only one available in a time when collectors wanted there collections to grow.  The original model had "made in China" written just below the hinge.  The following year's model had the word China welded over.

      The variations on the International 800 4 row planter, on the other hand, were another story.  There were 4 original variations and two more to come after the CIH merger.  The variations start with the hinges on the seed box.  Depending on how the top plastic piece was picked up and assembled, the hinges can be found facing towards the front side or the rear side of the planter.  This same plastic box was molded in a white or a cream color.  Both hinge variations can be found on both colors.

       The 800 planter was still in production at the time of the CIH merger.  There are only two variations.  The obvious variation would be the change from IH to CIH.  Oddly enough, the other variation has nothing to do with the hinges.  The CASE International on the rear can be found with a large or a small CASE.

        I hope this will be helpful in finding those pieces you might have missed.