Electrall!

The M-TA, also known as the MD-TA, was the last and most advanced of the M-Series tractors that came and went in 1954. Among it's many features and options was the Electrall. Electrall was a side saddle-mounted 10 KW GE generator that was driven by the tractor's PTO (Power Take Off) system. It could provide emergency power for the farm or electricity for remote areas where it wasn't available.

Electrall was also designed to power electric implements, one of International Harvester's "better ideas" that was about a decade too late. In the days before live PTOs ("live" meaning it operates separately from the tractor powertrain), machinery like hay balers and pull-behind combines had a small engine to power the machinery. The tractor towed the implement. The idea of powering the implement from the tractor without a second engine to fuel and maintain was a good one, but the live PTO answered it as well, or better, certainly more simply, than did the electric motor idea. Only one electric implement was available at the time the Electrall debuted, the Model 55 Hay Baler, though others were planned. The whole thing kinda flopped and the Electrall was dropped after 1957. A trailer mounted, PTO-driven Electrall was also available later, as was a pickup mounted unit. The tow-behind PTO generator sold the best and was genuinely useful. The Electrall are almost extinct these days and Don Olson is probably the preeminent collector and expert on them.

Ron Olson's MD-TA and 55 Baler were shot at the 2017 Red Power Roundup at Des Moines, Iowa. Ron demonstrated the different iterations of the Electrall over the course of the event. You could call him "The Last Electrall Salesman!"

The MD-TA, the diesel version of the M-TA, was powered by a 264 ci, indirect-injected, four-cylinder diesel that started on gasoline to warm up and then was manually switched over to diesel. It had a mechanical starting valve, a third valve, that opened the diesel combustion chamber to a gasoline combustion chamber. When opened, it dropped the compression ratio from 16.5:1 to 6.5:1.The gasoline combustion chamber had a spark plug, fired by a separate spark ignition system, and was fed air via a separate manifold. A very small carburetor allowed the engine to run at about 800 rpm and after the engine was warm enough, it was manually switched over to diesel by closing the starting valve. This also disabled the ignition system and engaged the diesel injection pump. In an era when diesels were notorious for hard starting in cold weather, the IH unit stood out as a reliable cold starter.