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In this original article, Red Power and Heritage Iron journalist Kenneth Updike details the ins and outs of International Harvester tractor serial number plates, from their origins in the 1920s as a replacement for frame and chassis stamps and engravings, to their enduring value as the most reliable identification of a rare machine. Read more of Kenneth Updike’s infinite IH wisdom in Red Tractors…
Vying for a contract with USPS, International Harvester equipped the Scout with postal-ready features including automatic transmission, right-hand drive, and sliding doors. 7,920 Postal Scouts rolled off the production line from 1966 to 1968 and hit the streets for their daily route. The contract was not long to last, but many of the postal-ready features would be repurposed for future Scout…
Victory Motorcycles 1998–2017 author Michael Dapper presents a list of Victory Iron Butt record holders—those who tested not only their bikes but themselves to achieve feats of endurance and gall. Check back next week for more insider stories of Victory Motorcycles design, development, marketing and sales on the Octane Fuel Blog.
Victory Motorcycles were made to be ridden ‘til the…
Michael Dapper, co-author of the upcoming book, Victory Motorcycles 1998–2017, will be at DAYTONA BIKE WEEK 2018.
On Thursday morning, March 15, he'll be signing EXCLUSIVE ADVANCE COPIES of the book at Volusia Motorsports in New Smyrna Beach prior to the dealership's Victory Ride at 10AM. On Friday March 16 from 6–8PM, Dapper will be at Volusia's Victory Bike Night held at BJ's Brewhouse on Int'…
In 1925, Deere & Company found themselves in a game of catch-up with International's newly released Farmall general-purpose tractor. Engineers scrambled to get the Model C Experimental out on the field as quick as possible, and rushed to send it to production. What resulted was an imperfect tractor with a short production run of just over one month. The model, despite imperfections, would be…
Victory Motorcycles 1998–2017 author Michael Dapper shares photographs and interviews gathered from his access to project codename "Platinum" development. The Victory Vision was not only one of the most complex models in the history of the brand, but one of the most anticipated as well—clandestine test runs took place in the dark of night, and with a posse of protectors. Check back next week for…
Enter the Alaskan expanse on the northern-most road in North America: the Dalton Highway. This steadily plodding pathway charts a lonely route through three different geologic regions: the forested sub-alpine Interior, the mountainous Brooks Range, and the tundra-covered Arctic Coastal plain. Find more maps routes, accommodation lists, and essential tips for the Dalton Highway and many other…
In this Red 4WD Tractors excerpt, then-Steiger media relations director Scott Westland Anderson describes the brand's entry into the industrial tractor business: a venture that began out on the field as a series of unconventional modifications, and resulted in partnerships with Caterpillar, Magnum, Grouser, Allison, and many more to produce a streamlined series of industrial tractors. Read the…
In this original article, Victory Motorcycles author Michael Dapper shares priceless memories from his time spent backstage and on the road with “The Gunny”: a Kansas-born farm boy, Marine veteran, Hollywood star, and Victory’s greatest spokesperson. Since we couldn’t fit it all in Victory Motorcycles 1998–2017, we included it here on the Octane FUEL Blog. Check back for upcoming posts on the…
The following is an excerpt from the diary of Don Murray, IH chief engineer for Grain Harvesting Engineering. Murray was the leader of the Axial-Flow project and kept a detailed written account of the process, providing an insider’s view of the trials and tribulations faced during the development of the Axial-Flow combine. In this chapter, Murray chronicles the development of the 1470 hillside…