Excerpt From Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel Richard Sylvester moved to Lindsay, Ontario about 1876 and set up an implement factory. Sylvester had been building implements at […]
Excerpt from Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel Two brothers, Douglass and Maurice Steiger wanted a large, powerful tractor for their farm operations. Unable to find what they […]
Excerpt from Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel In December, 1899, Joseph M. Denning moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and opened a plant known as Denning Wire […]
Nestled in the heartland of America the name Oliver Tractor Company stands as a testament to the relentless spirit of innovation that has shaped the agricultural landscape for over a […]
Benjamin Warder began building reapers at Spring field, Ohio in 1850. Prior to that time, Warder had established a sawmill, grist mill, and woolen mill. A factory designed to make […]
William C. Durant, chairman and majority stockholder of General Motors Corporation was determined to meet the Fordson challenge by getting into the tractor business. If nothing else, it was a […]
Few boys of fourteen years are forced to assume a man’s tasks, but thus it was with John Lauson. His father and four other brothers had come from Germany and […]
The history of German tractors is a testament to the country’s engineering dexterity and agricultural heritage. The roots of German tractor manufacturing can be traced back to the late 19th […]
Perhaps to its own harm, Allis-Chalmers has at times represented the ultimate in diversification. Even in the early days when Decker & Seville was scarcely established, the firm built stone […]
The changing role of hydraulics Hydraulics is all about moving large things with a small object using a simple principle. In agriculture, hydraulic pumps and cylinders appeared as a special […]
Large four-wheel drive articulated tractors typically have been common in the Great Plains states of America and the western prairie provinces of Canada. Several tractor manufacturers were born in these […]
It is always great to hear from readers. I received a letter in the mail from Mr. John Russel of Indiana concerning the November/December installment of “Back down the line.” […]
Seems like today, the person who gets 10 years of trouble free operation from a refrigerator should count themselves amongst the lucky. However, if you bought an International, a half […]
For many years, this sign (below) would greet those who entered Minneapolis, Minnesota on one of the main thoroughfares. The sign’s three dimensional Guernsey heads are still fresh on the […]
Read More… from Milk: From the dairy to your door. Our changing Americana
Fertilizer starts with an “M” Well, something like that. OK, at our place it did. I was accused of being a poor speller by my teachers in school. It made […]
The Ertl Prestige series of miniatures has been around for about 15 years now and seems to continue to gain in popularity. The models have a relatively high level of […]
In many ways, Adolph Ronning was a typical Minnesota farm boy. One of nine children, he grew up on a farm near Boyd, in Lac qui Parle County, and graduated […]
John Deere was born at Rutland, Vermont on February 7, 1804. By 1823 he had become a blacksmith, and spent the next few years working in various shops. The […]
Robert H. and Cyrus M. Avery formed the Avery Planter company at Galesburg, Illinois in 1874. Robert Avery had developed some ideas about corn planters during his imprisonment at Andersonville, […]
Meinrad Rumely was born in Germany in 1823, and came to the United States in 1848. Two brothers, Jacob and John, had emigrated earlier. For a time he worked with […]
Anyone who has anything negative to say about the tractor market hasn’t been paying attention this year! I often read online comments about how the tractor market is failing and […]
In 1981, IH replaced its 720 and 830 forage harvesters with newer, updated models, the 781 and 881. These new forage harvesters were very similar to their older counterparts. Both […]
Hello, readers! I do hope your summer and fall have been good to you. I am sorry about taking longer to write about Ford tractors than I intended, but farm […]
Partnerships and mergers Most everyone knows that John Deere, after losing his father at an early age and through his mother’s encouragement to learn a trade, became an apprentice blacksmith. […]
The house I live in was built in 1907 by my great grandparents, Blanche Sheffield and Clarence Burrell. The Sheffield and Burrell families had been neighbors in Boone, Iowa before […]
My farm toy collecting interests have changed over time and I’m sure that’s true for most people in this hobby. I started receiving farm toys when I was quite young, […]
Pig Iron Peddler and déjà vu Okay, hope 2019 has started well for our readers. Down here in Texas, we are still wet from fall and early winter rains. It’s […]
Bottle openers Part of the fun of collecting is seeing the vast array of different types of literature and memorabilia that is out there in the farm world. Recently we […]
Yep, just about done. Only a few scoops left. You’ve been out here shoveling for hours to clear the driveway. You stand up and stretch—it feels like your back will […]
EMT means emergency medical technician. It is a level of training that is above first responder and lower than EMTI (an intermediate level EMT and below a paramedic). In small […]
I am sort of doubling up with this article. What we’re going to be looking at is the bicentennial edition of John Deere’s Furrow magazine. The Furrow is a Deere […]
There have been many very good artists over time and their art has become a large boost to JD nostalgia. Most early advertising was paintings and that continued, along with […]
I am looking forward to this visit. This picture is really interesting and has a lot of small detail in it. If I remember correctly, when I bought the picture, […]
The history of Ann Arbor Machine Company goes back to 1882. The company began in a small way building hay presses and other machines. Their heavy duty Columbia hay press […]
American Seeding Machine Company was organized in 1903. This merger brought together several competing companies. Ostensibly, the plan was to achieve the benefits of mass production by eliminating a great […]
The existing Huber records are handwritten documents in two separate books, a sales register & a build records book. Neither book is complete. Between both books we can often provide […]
We know from survivors and family members of Huber employees that during the depths of the depression Huber employees worked without getting paid. The company did not have the funds. […]
On January 25, 1929, Huber completed tractor # 9414. This was the first production 20-36. Probably owing to the success of the Huber “Light Four” cross motor tractor the 20-36 […]
John Nichols opened a blacksmith shop at Battle Creek, Michigan in 1848. Little is known of Nichols’ early life, nor does anything but the most scant history of the early […]
As with the Cockshutt line, the Minneapolis- Moline line had no connection with Oliver Corporation in the strictest sense. The commonality lies in the acquisition of Minneapolis-Moline, Cockshutt, and Oliver […]
In 1872, Charles Walter Hart was born at Charles City, Iowa. The Hart family had arrived on the Massachusetts shore in 1632…this particular scion of the family came to Iowa […]
Before Cyrus Hall McCormick’s death in 1884, he and William Deering spoke of amalgamation, but nothing came of these conversations. Records of the following years indicate that a number of […]
Deering Harvester Company formed another major root of International Harvester Company. When William Deering became involved in the harvester business, Cyrus Hall McCormick had been at it for about forty […]
The year 1981 marks the 150th Anniversary of the McCormick reaper. From this crude machine of 1831 the McCormick empire was built, and through it International Harvester Company gained its […]
Although J. I. Case was actively engaged in the construction machinery business, particularly in the 1912-1920 period, it is curious indeed that they made no overt move into the crawler […]
Of all the companies acquired by J. I. Case, the Rock Island Plow Company remains as one of the most significant. Curiously though, Case closed out the Rock Island tractor […]
In 1852 John H. Manny Company was organized to build the Manny reaper. Two years later, in 1854, Manny built nearly 1,000 reapers. His small factory at Waddam’s Grove, Stephenson […]
Everything in life has its challenges. The history of mechanized agriculture is certainly no exception. Although the history of J. I. Case Company is seen here through the product lines, […]
An itch gets scratched In our last visit, I mentioned that I was hoping to go to Colorado and cut wheat. Finally this summer, a plan worked out. A few […]
Writing stories when you have no idea what you are doing is fun and interesting. When this all started five years ago and I told this to Richard, he made […]
© 2025 Old Iron Garage | All Rights Reserved | website by ITMG
Our site is still a work in progress as we continue to build out content. We’re developing this site to give people a place to share, learn, and explore the world of Old Iron and will promote the live launch once it is complete.
