I am not ready to put the blame of cracked Stovebolt heads on the manufacturer. These trucks were farm implements which were rode hard and put away wet.
Brass radiators were not cheap. The radiators would spring a leak and the farmer would pour in stop leak until it fixed the leak or filled the water jacket, whichever came first. Ever wonder what all of that hard black concrete-like junk is which we find in the bottom of the water jacket on many of these old engines?
Repetitive over-heating is what likely led to the cracked heads, not design flaws.
