THE TRACTOR WITH MANY NAMES

By Staff
Published on September 1, 1979
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Ryder, North Dakota 58779

You can call the tractor Skibo, or you can call it Universal, or
you can call it GasPull, or you can call it Minneapolis Universal
Farm Motor, or you can call it American-Abell Universal.

This tractor was first made around 1909 or 1910 by the Union
Iron Works of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This company advertised the
tractor called a Skibo in 1912 as a 18-25 horsepower and priced at
$1600.00. The frame of this machine is constructed of heavy channel
steel securely rivated together and thoroughly braced with motor
hung low on the frame. This brings the center of gravity close to
the ground, making the machine very stable and affording no
tendency to racking the frame, which is sometimes the case where
the center of gravity is high from the ground.

The drive wheels are 61′ in diameter and 20′ wide. The
power to drive the machine is delivered from the rim of the bull
gear to the rim of the drive wheel. The steering device is the
automobile type, quick in action and absolutely positive, requiring
very little attention from the operator.

The engine used on this tractor is of the horizontal opposed
type. The cylinders are 7? x 7? that run at 500 rpm. It is provided
with a friction clutch belt pulley attached directly to the
crankshaft. The belt pulley has a 9′ face and 18′ diameter.
Ignition is high tension jump spark produced by a Remy magneto;
five dry cells are used for starting. The motor is water-cooled,
the water passes through a closed radiator by gravity flow. The
radiator holds 26 gallons and is cooled by a 15?’ diameter fan
that turns at 2300 rpms.

The 50-gallon fuel tank is mounted on the front of the tractor
frame. Two gears can be ordered for each of the two forward speeds
thus giving four forward speeds of 2, 2?, or 2? and 3? miles per
hour.

A December 1913 Gas Review has an ad by the Union Iron Works
that calls the tractor the Universal Farm Tractor. The ad states
the tractor will pull six 14-inch stubble plows or handle a 32-inch
separator. This ad also states the tractor weighs a little over
10,000 pounds so can be run over soft ground and will not pack
it.

 An article in The American Thresherman, September 1912,
stated the Rumely Products Company has secured the sale of the two
cylinder opposed gas tractor made by the Northwest Thresher Company
at Stillwater, Minnesota.

This was a very successful small tractor which has been on the
market for several years under the name of ‘Universal.’
This year the Rumely Products Company secured the right to sell
this engine in Canada and is preparing to sell a large number in
other countries next year. The Northwest Thresher Company continues
to do the manufacturing. The name of the tractor has been changed
to ‘Gaspull’ which is considered more distinctive and which
fits well with the names ‘Oilpull’ and ‘Tiger Pull’
which have been given to other Rumely gas tractors.

The Universal Tractor Company of Stillwater, Minnesota was
producing the 20-40 HP Universal beginning around 1910. The
Universal Tractor Company may have been a part of the Northwest
Thresher Company, also of Stillwater. At least by September of
1912, which is nearly a year after the Rumely Products Company
purchased the Northwest Thresher Company, the tractor called
‘Universal’ was being sold by the Northwest Thresher
Company.

Since this tractor had about the same power as the 15-30 Model F
Oilpull, the Rumely Company reduced the rating to 15-30 and renamed
it Gaspull. The weight of the tractor was now up to around 11,700
pounds, according to the Rumely Gaspull catalog. The Gaspull
remained on the market until about 1917.

A 1914 Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company catalog from
Hopkins, Minnesota shows this tractor as the Minneapolis Universal
20 HP Farm Motor. The two cylinder opposed engine, 7?’ x 8′
running at 500 rpms, is mounted horizontally just in front of the
cab. The radiator and fan are mounted crossways behind the gasoline
tank. The Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company marketed this
Minneapolis Universal from about 1911 until 1915.

This tractor has been described as a poor design with plenty of
bugs, while others state it was a very satisfactory tractor when
used on the load it was designed to pull.

The tractor pictured is a Minneapolis Universal #854, a 1911
model, shown at the Dalton, Minnesota show. I know of six more
Minneapolis Universal tractors still around and of ten of the
Gaspull model. Four of these Gaspull tractors I know of are in
North Dakota.

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