International, always one to come up with a new and different idea, designed this diesel to start on gasoline then be switched over to diesel once the engine was warm. The MD was produced from 1941 to 1952, at which time it was succeeded by the Super MD.
All 18,253 MDs built used a 4.1L 4-cylinder diesel engine made by International Harvester that produced over 35 PTO horsepower at 1450 RPM. The $2,400 tractor had a PTO and five speed transmission, the fifth being road gear, affording a speed of over 16 MPH. It came with a row crop front axle and 500 PSI, later 800 PSI, hydraulics.
In 1924, International Harvester introduced a new row-crop tractor named the "Farmall". Its pioneering tricycle configuration would dominate US farms for the next 30 years. IHC used the Farmall brand for all their tractors with a row-crop front axle until the 1970s. At that point, the name was phased out before finally disappearing completely in 1975. CNH Global has revived the Farmall brand on some of their modern utility tractors.
The Farmall MD was the diesel version of the M. The MD was started on gasoline, by pulling a lever which enlarged the combustion chamber (to lower the compression) and closed the circuit for the spark plugs. After the engine was warm, it was switched over to diesel.
From Tractor Data