Production of all versions lasted until 1954, when it was replaced by the Farmall 400 which was essentially the same machine with updated sheet metal.

Styled by Raymond Loewy,[1][2] it was one of International Harvester's "letter series", replacing the Farmall F-30.

The M was equipped with an International Harvester C248 inline overhead valve four-cylinder engine with a 248-cubic-inch (4,060-cubic-centimetre) displacement, and a six-volt electrical system.

[5] The M was the larger of the two prominent row crop tractors produced by IH from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, along with the Farmall H and its variants, yet could still use the same implements.

[5] As with the other letter-series IH tractors, the M used a modular design that allowed assemblies to be removed and replaced as units.

[5] High-clearance variants for farming vegetables and other high crops were also produced, including the Farmall MV and the MDV (diesel), as well as a standard front version (W-6) and the I-6 industrial tractor.

Industrial tractors had fixed wheel widths, different gearing, foot throttles and usually had wide front axles.

The models produced outside of North America mainly used wide front axles instead of the tricycle arrangement popular in the United States and Canada.

Variants included the W-400, with a wide front wheel placement, and the 400 Hi-Clear hiboy model.