Industrial tractors question

Hi Walker!

So, you've already pointed out one  of the first characters of an industrial, vs ag tractor-  the front end height... industrials are usually lower, and frequently have non-adjustable axles or wheels, in lieu of heavier units for physical strength.  Frequently they'll be fitted with wheels that accept other 'types' of tires (compaction, aircraft, or 'more road-ish' type tires for use on pavement... typically they'll be a little wider in the back, and a whole lot wider in the front, as they don't have to fit through narrow rows, but do need more contact surface.  A lower center of gravity is preferred (there's no row-crop clearance needed) and more overhead clearance is desired (one need not loose their head over going through doorways).

Sometimes there's different gear ratios.  Sometimes they're fitted with fewer total speeds, but alternative features like shuttle-shift.  Some Allis industrials have (instead of high-low on the power director) a forward-reverse, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, because I've seen it on other brands, i THINK Allis did too), the gearbox has no reverse, instead, it might have 5 speeds, so with the shuttle, it's 5 fwd, and 5 rev?  Great for running a front loader...

Which brings up point:  Where is the "Industrial Tractor" used?

Many different ways... in many different environments 'not agricultural'.  Factories often use them for moving large components or supplies to assembly lines, typically on flat trailers or other situations where forklifts cannot do so as effectively or safely.

They're often fitted with front end loaders and backholes.  They're sometimes fitted with snow plows or throwers (usually these have cabs with heat and lights).  Sometimes they're fitted with bristle brushes and water tanks (for clearing pavement),  Some have sickle bars or other special mowers.

There's some very special 'industrial' tractors reserved specifically for aircraft tug use.  I don't know what Allis did, but I know others (Minneapolis-Moline) took a very svelte tractor, got it low, with massive tires, ballasted the heck out of it, and put in rediculously low gears, for pulling bombers and heavy transport aircraft.

Industrials were often reversed and used as forklifts... shuttle shift is a great thing here.

And my favorites were fitted with PTO generators and large magnet arrays on front, in middle, and back, and run down aircraft runways to pick up stray pieces of ferrous metal, to get the pavement clear of tire-eating debris.

The only IMMEDIATE issue to mounting a 3-point hitch plow on an industrial might be height... you might find that once in a furrow, with one tire on the hard, and the other in the row, is that the whole assembly sits so low, that the plow's lift height just isn't enough to clear the point as you reach the end of a row.

Generally, industrials were pretty limited in their hitchery... a drawbar at rear, and frequently one would see one up front (oftentimes added by the user) to back or jockey trailers into tight spaces.

No reason it CAN'T be done, but the agricultural features would likely be missed.  As a handy 'utility', it'd be convenient, simply because you're down low, and can be on and off easily.