When did model year start?

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

When did the model year start for Cubs? Did the year run from Jan 1 to Dec 30 or was it like cars and start earlier?

Thanks,
Bob

[Jim Becker]

They didn't really have "model years" to speak of. They just built tractors. When they wanted to change something, they did it whenever it was ready. They did partially use a November 1 start date. That was more or less the time they started building for the "new season". There were some changes synchronized to November 1, for example 11/1/56 when they started with the secondary white color. The published lists of serial numbers by year are all based on calendar years.

[w30bob]

Hi Jim,

Your last sentence was what I was trying to figure out. Was production for any given year pretty even each month.......or did they make the most tractors prior to spring and the fall harvest? I'm trying to guestimate when my '77 Cub was built. It's one of 1276 made that year, which if production was consistent from month to month, would mean they made approx 106 per month. Subtracting the first SN of that year from my SN means my tractor was the 368th Cub made that year. 368 divided by 106 means it was made in mid-March. The latest casting date on it is 4-19, so my calculation is off by at least a month.

Regards,
Bob

[Glen]

Hi,
You could look at Raymond Durban's database. It shows info about production. It is a little above where your post was in the list, when I posted this.
Here it is below. Look at the first one on the page, Cub Database.
The page with the serial numbers enlarges, at the top of the page, if you need it bigger, at least it does on my computer.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=87029

[Jim Becker]

If you look at the database as Glen suggested, you will see starting serial numbers for each month through 1966. This information came from the Louisville monthly serial number reports. The reports can be seen on the Wisconsin Historical Society web site. The available reports stop at 1966. After that, all we have are the start numbers by year. The numbers reveal fairly long stretches of more-or-less constant production but there are some notable exceptions. The exceptions seem to mostly show as total shutdowns. Some of these may have been driven by production planning while others relate to model changes or strikes. Without the monthly lists, it is difficult to judge how uniform the production may have been over a year. WHS also has Production and Shipment Reports. These appear to have been monthly reports but all that are out there are November reports which show year end (end of October). So you can see production numbers from October and year totals of many years. These reports stop with 1976.

Here is one example of a disruption from the post-1966 time. A strike was started in the Louisville factory April 13, 1978. It spread to the foundry the next day and lasted 5 weeks. I don't know if it resulted in a total shut-down of both facilities or not. I presume it did.