red nose U puller

M.Genrich

Member
I thought Id share a picture of the 1938 U we built this summer to run in the antique classes where 15.5 tire size is the limit. Its way under 400 cubes and is made of all used parts including the head gasket and rod and main bearings. There is around 2500 bucks invested and it will hold an honest 80hp. on the dyno at 535 rpm. It got a first, a second, and two third place trophys at the Iowa state fair last weekend with my 16 year old son doing the driving. We have hotter tractors but bang for the buck this one is the most fun.
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Are you sure it is a 1938 U? 1938 and early 1939 had air breather on rear of carb. The hood was also cut on rear to allow for aircleaner.
 
I cut the hole in the hood for the air cleaner pipe and I have the original air cleaner assy. and the s shaped air pipe. This is a pulling tractor not a restored original and I never said it was stock. Yes the carb faces the wrong way because its a larger zenith bolted to a M5 lp manifold. As for the age, the tag reads UTU 310510U. This tractor isn't correct and I never intended for it to be. A picture is worth a thousand words!
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It may be, but ser. # looks fishy to me. numbers i have sayes 1938 310026 to 310500 and 310626 to 310646. That's for UT series all versions
 
A frend of mine found the tractor on an auction a couple hours north of me in Minnesota and sent me a few pictures of it before he bought it for me. For the sake of conversation I thought I would include the one of the pictures he sent me of the engine. The only other pics I have are of the grill and the mag side of the engine but this pretty well shows the original manifold and carb set up. It doesn't have a notch for the air cleaner in the hood??? Who knows???
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Serial tag doesn't look like any of my red nose U's. Original tags had MM in black. The UTU was not used in model number. It would be just a UT and the U following the serial identifies type.
 
He wasn't looking for all of the correct police to chime in, he was stating he made a fun tractor to pull with. I think it is great to have a competitive tractor to pull with minimal invested. The serial numbers state that 310026-310645 were 1938's. Give the guy a break and maybe he won't criticize everything you do in the future.
 
Im by no means a Moline expert but I do know this tractor didn't come to far from Hopkins Minn. Did I find a fairly rare tractor and made a puller out of it??? If so somebody please speak up because im about to put an lp tank on it off of a later split block utu. I still have the original engine. Its stuck, missing the governor and the manifold isn't good but at this point it isn't to late to turn back and restore it back to original. Also, this tractor didn't have a pto and has the original MM cover. No belt pulley, and the oil pan is cast in front of the screen for some sort of a wide front axil but isn't machined. It had cast iron center front wheels with removable rims. the rear main case has some barbs cast on it in front of the brakes that my later u doesn't have. The v pulleys are narrower than the later u,it goes like hell in high gear and has a different shift pattern than my late U. Did I accidently find something good???? Do tell1!
 
That serial number (310510) falls into the UDLX series of numbers. You may want to do a little research on the history of that tractor.
 
By god you right book worm. That's interesting, thanks for pointing that out. Its no UDLX but it goes down the road like one!
 
Can you post original motor serial # ? Books show first UTU 1939 sn 310951 to 311150 in first batch. Second batch 311351-550. Total of only 400 made in 1939. A very collectibile tractor.In 1938 UDLX,UOPN and UTS shared the numbers 310001- 310646.
 
the tag isn't in very good shape and I couldent get a good picture of it but I think Its #539273. Does that sound right?
 
I have a 38 UTS. Serial number 310159 motor number 540203. Mine is one of the first ever made. Your motor may be a KTA motor. I'll do more research in AM.
 
I wondered about that so I scratched around on the original engine(or at least the engine I took out) and found no trace of gray paint, and I don't know, but did a kta have a starter hole in the crank case?
 
Did anyone notice the tag is aluminum? Moline used brass tags until early in the 1940 production. Who knows, maybe this was once a UDLX demo unit or something. Maybe sent back to the factory to be made into a row crop tractor and then re-sold??? Very interesting. Remember, these cabbed tractors were hard to sell at that time.
 
Is the motor a KEC or KED? There were 25 U experimentals made in 1936-37 but they had a 5 digit serial number.
 
Sheldon Knutson had a 39 UTU Red nose that was listed in books as part of UTS s/n grouping - but tag appeared to be original and clearly said UTU 312089 U. I"m thinking they did a few odd singles that did not get recorded properly.

A 38 UTU would presumably have been a prototype - it would be interesting to look at front parts unique to tricycle configuration for any indication they were pre-production parts. Also if you have original rear wheel castings check casting numbers.

And for engine, look for KEA, KEC, KED prefix and/or A, C, or D suffix. But in my opinion a 539xxx s/n engine should be preserved if not restored.

Best, Ed
 
Im stating to think the production figures are off or something. I had a chance to buy a nice red nose row crop u puller twenty years ago that was in central Mo. that had a 310___ tag but as I recall it was stamped UT. I didn't have the money at that time. Ten years ago I found another in central Minn. with the 310___ number but it was in the hands of a small collector and he wouldent sell it. And I haven't seen them but I have herd from a reliable source that there are two in Ohio. I have been keeping a eye open for a row crop with a 1938 tag for several years and a car/hotrodder frend of mine found this one by chance on an auction and saved it from scrap. I think we will continue to pull with this tractor but will save all the original parts and wont disfigure it. Mabie somebody will be able to crack this nut in the future. Thanks to all for the help. Mike
 
Well.....I hate to prove you wrong on this one but here is a picture of the tag on a UTS parts tractor that I picked up in southern Iowa. Its Brass.
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All 7 of mine are aluminum! I supsect your serial tag was restamped. If you look at the numerals they are not a clean stamp. Especially on the 0's. Why? Nobody ever will know. I have a 5 Star with similar stamping. Nobody has ever deciphered serial number. Your U is the same but shares a UDLX #. Possibile rear end is from a UDLX. The rearends were very similar except for countershaft setup for UDLX. You should keep it as orginal as possible and preserve it.
 
Peterson-Beemer list shows
310001-025 UDLX
310026-500 UTS (1938)
310501-625 UDLX
310626-646 UTS (1938)
310647-950 UTS (1939)
310951-311150 first UTU (1939)
311151-350 UTS (1939)
311351-550 UTU (1939)
311551-312450 UTS (1940)

Lloyd McCray's list is consistent with respect to UDLX but shows other tractors in the early time frame only as U and does not distinguish UTS vs UTU. McCray's list also show engine s/n
1938 KEA 531754-532842
1937 KEC & KED 540001-540025
1938 KEC & KED 540026-540575
1939 KEC 540701-542553

No indication of any engines between 532842 and 540001 - so as I said it would be very interesting to know any prefix or suffix associated with a 539xxx motor.

Brian Rukes s/n list for 1938 is consistent with other lists showing 310510 should be a UDLX - so best I could say is it may have been a prototype for the narrow front UTU configuration.

If you come across any more 310xxx narrow front UTU, please note S/N and Engine S/N and post here.

Best, Ed
 
Thanks Molinegb and ed for taking the time to do the home work on my tractor. Now that I have you confused, How about a uni harvester factory equipped with an re engine? or a nice unrestored ubu with a red grill?
 
I do not understand, initially only one post appears but later there are two there. Winders 7 Pro and Chrome. when I edit it it doesn't multiply.
Bryce
 
That's a good looking pair of tractors. I like the looks of the fenders on the red nose. Please tell me that it has a 38 tag. Thanks, Mike
 
My point is-who the hell cares about a old tractor that the guy is pulling with. I don't care if it's the 3rd one built or the 10,000 one built. If it has the right gauges or not. The guy showed a tractor he has no money in and is having a good time. The tractor was in a Alan Jackson high light real at the Iowa State Fair. He was not looking for info. or a history quiz. He was just proud of a old MM tractor.
 
Easy now Molinegb, If we wouldent have out bid the scrappers on this old MM it would have been melted down and made in to a Toyota by now! We saved it and yes its a puller now, It gets to stretch its legs every week or three hooked to a sled all summer long. Some how that seems like a better fate than the cutting torch. I mean no disrespect to any collectors but I feel we did preserve it. Bigmotors made one hell of a pass on it at the state fair leaving all the other brands behind him and ended up on the big screen at the he haw concert later that night. I should have ask for his autograph before he became a celebrity!
 
Sounds like you may have a very interesting tractor and until someone can prove to you without a doubt of what you might really have, keep having that fun! I do admit, looking at the presale pics and seeing it firsthand at the Iowa State Fair, there are some interesting odd details about this tractor. I talked with you there about your tractor and my MTA and red nosed UTU #312516 but I'm mostly dissappointed I was leaving on your last run, didn't see the Alan Jackson take, but WAY TO GO! Had it been autographed, you wouldn't paint it either!
 

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