Combines TR 70 history uncovered

i heard back in the 1970's IH tried the twin rotor but they found that single rotor worked better so they sold the idea to new holland

I don't know if I would believe that. I have used both the TR and the axial flow. I would say the TR does just as good a job threshing as an axial flow and makes better use of the available sieve area. The only reason I like the axial flow better is they are so much simpler to work on and cheaper to repair(availablity of salvage parts).

Dad has told the story of when they were testing a prototype IH rotary back in the early 70's in the same paddock of heavy barley as his 510.These 'really' smart IH engineers drove a ute with a very hot exhaust into the paddock and parked it on the stubble near the prototype,you can guess what happened next.There was a mad panic by them to save the IH while everyone else was trying to contain the nice big fire.john

Why don't you try to digitize (scan) these items into images and post them in the "photographs" section on this forum. It would be great to see some of these items, especially the "intro" information.

I would gladly post the information on my website ToyTractorShow.com. I am always trying to preserve equipment history and information. It sounds like have some great info on the TR. This is my NH combine history section: http:__www.toytractorshow.com_new_holland_combines.htm If you are interested drop me an e-mail at Webmaster@toytractorshow.com Jay

Check Baumheckel and Borghoff's book on International Harvester and you will find some interesting information on the origins of the TR70. They indicate that IH in the late 1960's tested out both single rotor and twin rotor designs. When they figured how to get the single rotor machine to feed properly they abandoned the twin rotor machine as the mechanical complexity of a twin versus single rotor made the twin rotor more expensive to manufacture. One of the engineers on the twin rotor project then left IH and went to NH as the lead engineer on the TR70 project. In the lawsuit settlement,IH got some money out of NH for this engineer's role and NH agreed to delay the introduction of the TR70. See the book for more details