THE EXPERIMENTAL INTERNATIONAL HT-340
If the idea of building a tractor without a transmission...or final drive
system...or pistons and crankshaft seems to you to be impossible - it isn't.
This tractor has already been built - the International HT-340, the first
tractor ever designed and built with a turbine engine and hydrostatic drive
system. Equally amazing, it's an actual working tractor that can handle a
3-bottom plow and equipment of comparable size with ease.
Why IH built this tractor.

This bold experiment in tractor design was conceived by the IH Engineering
Research Division, a group of men devoted to anticipating the future.
Although the HT-340 is strictly experimental, it illustrates a number of
principles that may someday be included in farm power. Even as it is
currently designed, should it be perfected for farm use its advantages would
be tremendous. Because of its extreme simplicity and few moving parts,
service and maintenance costs would drop to new lows. You could match power
and ground speed to load exactly, as speeds are infinitely variable from 0
to top speed, currently 11 mph. Operation would be effortless - all
movement...starting, stopping, and braking is controlled through one lever.
You could plow all day without shifting or touching a clutch pedal. And
you'd use the lowest cost fuel available.
Overall operation of the HT-340 would be as close to automatic operation as
you could imagine.

NOW LETS SEE HOW IT WORKS.....
Gas Turbine Engine
The engine in this tractor develops close to one horsepower per pound of
weight - 80 hp and it weighs 90 pounds. sound impossible? Not if you're
familiar with turbine engine design. Solar Aircraft Company, an IH
subsidiary, builds this turbine...called the Titan. The Titan is currently
manufactured for aircraft, industrial, and military applications. All Solar
turbines operate on the same principle, and offer the same advantages.
Because the HT-340 drive system was designed for only 40 hp, only one-half
of the Titan's available horsepower is utilized.

Turbine engines are extremely simple. They start instantly in any weather,
even after long periods of idleness. Air-cooled, they require no radiator.
Oil consumption is next to nothing. They're insensitive to dust and abrasive
wear. They burn low-cost fuels. As they have no reciprocating parts, as in
piston engines, there is no vibration.

A simple explanation of how the Titan turbine works: Incoming air is
compressed by the impeller (A), Compressed air is forced into the combustion
chambers (B), where it mixes with fuel and combustion takes place. Burning
fuel produces energy to turn the turbine wheel or output turbine (C). The
turbine wheel furnishes power to drive the tractor.
Turbines aren't new in principle. Solar has been building them for years.
But they had never been applied to farm power - until now.