Route 4, Huntington, Indiana 46750
To continue the list of tractors made before 1920, I am going to
shy away from big names like Hart Parr, Rumely, Int. Harv., and
Minn. These I will take up later one at a time. Most of the
tractors listed below did not last long. The lack of steel in World
War I, high wages, scarcity of labor, along with lack of finances
was the down fall of most of them. See how many you have heard of.
1912 Hackney Mfg. Co. St. Paul. Hackney Auto Plow three-wheeled.
Mounted plow. 1911 Bates Tractor Co., Lansing, Mich. 17-30 2 cyl.
opposed Horiz. engine. Opsata Motor Plow Co., Eau Claire, Wis.
Culti Plow. 1913 Bull Tractor Co. Minneapolis 5-12 Little Bull,
later Big Bull, 2 cyl. opp. Hume mfg. Co., Hume, Ill. Large with
extra high rear wheels. 1912 Avery Co., Peoria, Ill. Were quite
popular up to about 1940. Pioneer Tractor Co., Winona, Minn. A
number of 30-60’s made. A few smaller ones. 1913 Dayton Dick
Co., Quincy, Ill. The Leader. Hoke Tractor Co., South Bend, Ind.
Light Four Tractor. 1913 Waterloo Gas Eng. Co., Waterloo Boy Model
N in 1916. 1912 Lambert Gas & Gasoline Eng. Co., Anderson, Ind.
Lambert Steel Hoof. Olmstead Gas Traction Co., Great Falls, Mont.
Four Wheel Pull. Nelson Blower & Furnace Co., Boston, Mass.
Nelson Four Wheel Drive. 1914 Townsend Mfg. Co., Janesville, Wis.
Townsend looked like a steam engine. 1914 Moline Plow Co., Moline,
Ill. Moline Universal Model F., 1918 Model D.1914 B. F. Avery
Co., Louisville, Ky. Motor Plow. Common Sense Gas Tractor Co.,
Minneapolis, Minn. 15-25 and 20-40. Joliet Oil Tr. Co., Joliet,
Ill. Joliet 22-40 looked like a Heider. Unity Steel Tractor Co.,
Antigo, Wis. 1914 Allis Chalmers Co., West Allis, Wis. 8-16 Happy
Farmer, three-wheeled. 1915 Ford Tractor Co., Minneapolis, Minn.
Model B ford. Not Henry Ford. 1913 Rock Island Plow Co., Rock
Island, Ill. Heider 12-20, later a 15-27. 1914 Strite Tractor Co.,
Minneapolis. Three Wheeled. 1914 McIntyre Mfg. Co., Later Thru Pull
Tr. Co. Farmer Boy 10-18-$1350. 1915 Michigan Tractor Co., Detroit.
Three wheel. 1915 Rumely Co., La Ports, Ind. Rumely Ideal Pull.
1916 Wilson Tractor Co., Peoria, Ill. Standard and a Cultivator
type. 1912 Eagle Tr. Co., Appleton, Wis. 40-60, 12-22, 13-25,
16-30, 20-40. All two cyl. horiz. At the very last they built four
and six cyl. eng. 1916 The Parrett Tr. Co., Chicago. Built a 12-25
until 1920. 1916 Peoria Tractor Co., Peoria, Ill. 8-12. 4 cyl.
vert, cross mounted engine on a three wheel chassis. Looked like a
Bull Tractor. T. Cooper of Colby, Kan. has one. 1916 Huber Mfg.
Co., Marion, Ohio. Light Four 12-25. Waukesha eng. $985. 1916
Wallis Tractor Co., Racine, Wis. Model J 15-27 no wheel in front.
Emerson Brantingham, Rockford, Ill., Model L 12-20. 1917 Ford Motor
Co., Detroit, Mich. Fordson. 1917 Besser Mfg. Co., Alpena, Mich.
15-30. Looked like a Parrett. Albaugh Dover Co. later became Square
Turn Tr. Co., Chicago, three wheel. 1917 Electric Wheel Co. Quincy,
Ill. Allwork 14-29. Lang Tractor Co., Minneapolis. 15-30 three
wheeled. AA. B. Farquahrar Co., York, Pa. 18-35. U. S. Tractor
& Mach. Co., Menasha, Wis. Uncle Sam 20-30. 1918 Illinois Silo
& Tr. Co., 18-30. 4 cyl. vert, engine. Bethlehem Motor Corp.,
Allentown, Pa. Bethlehem 18-36. 1916 Gray Tractor Co., Minneapolis.
Wide drum drive. M 15-25, M A 20-35, 18-36, and a 22-40 Canadian
Special. Acme Harv. Mach. Co., Peoria, Illinois. Interchangeable
four-wheel or Caterpillar. Keck Gonnerman Co., Mt. Vernon, Ind.
12-24. 1919 Nilson Tractor Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 22-45 three rear
drive wheels. Frick Co., Waynesboro, Pa. 12-25. Lauson Co., New
Holstein, Wis. Lauson 15-25. Built Trs. for N & S and Banting.
Appleton Co., Batavia, Ill. 12-20. Buda 4 cyl. eng. Four Drive
Tractor., Big Rapids, Mich. 4 wheel drive 20-35. Samson Tr. Co.,
Janesville, Wis. Model M $650. Reed Foundry & Mach. Works,
Kalamazoo, Mich. Reed 12-25, $1600. The William Galloway Co., Cedar
Rapids, Ia. Makers of gas engines, cream separators and allied
lines started making the Galloway Far mobile in about 1915. They
were a 12-25. During the first World War they had sold the British
Government a big order of tractors, and at the end of the war there
were still two hundred tractors not yet delivered. The British
Government simply cancelled the order and left Galloway set. This
put him out of the tractor business. He was able to keep his other
lines, but never fully recovered from that blow. I know where there
are four of these rare tractors yet today. Johnson Fuel Oil Co.,
Cedar Falls, Ia., Reynolds Museum Wetaskiwin, Sask., James T.
Martin, Cedar Falls, Ia., and a man near Hadley, Pa.
Challenge ‘Z’ owned by Bob Clise, Geneva, New York.
1929 John Deere G. P. owned by Rolland.
I could continue this list on and on, but in a much later issue
I will list all the companies that I know that are listed or
advertised as having made tractors. So far I can account for four
hundred and sixteen companies.
