Big help, small price! The water-cooled F1M 414 tractor from Klckner-Humboldt-Deutz was built without interruption from 1936 to 1951. It was on everyone’s lips as the “farmer’s tractor” or “Elfer” because it was affordable for smaller farms and farmers at around 2,300 Reichsmarks. This made it easier for some farmers to mechanize their harvesting and work processes. Production initially started with a 1-cylinder diesel engine with 11 hp (displacement: 1100 cm³), three-speed gearbox and water circulation cooling. The 2.28 meter long and 1.53 meter wide tractor had a deadweight of 1180 kg and could move a trailer load of up to 8 tons – a remarkable performance for the little guy.

The pulley for the drive belt drive allowed the use of a wide range of additional equipment, such as: threshing machines, balers, hay and crop conveyors, large grinders, field choppers, circular saws, cone splitters, water pumps and various workshop machines. This meant that even smaller agricultural businesses were able to participate in the revolution of mechanization and labor relief for the first time. The use of machines meant that strenuous tasks could now be carried out more efficiently and more easily, thus requiring less human labor, which was not available in large numbers during the war years anyway.

After the war in 1946, production started again and the F1M 414/46 tractor with 4-speed gearbox was launched and the top speed could be increased to 15 km/h. From 1950, the engine power could even be increased to 12 hp. In total, over 20,000 models were built between 1936 and 1951 (10,340 pre-war models and 8,990 post-war models).