Russ from MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Bemidji MN
Recently my hometown had it's little Pioneer Days, pretty small but we sure were grateful to the guy that brought this! It started and ran as good as new.
I found this information online.
The Bull Tractor Co. was formed in 1913 by Patrick J. Lyons as the financier and D.M. Hartsough as the tractor designer. With visions of small tractors as the future they sold their popular Big Four line to Emerson Brantingham of Rockford, Illinois, for $2 million in 1912 to pave the way for their new venture.
The company started taking orders for the Little Bull 5-12 tractor in late 1913, before they had a factory to build them. On December 30, 1913, Lyons entered into a contract with Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company to build a minimum of 50 tractors a day. Minneapolis could not fill the order of engines, so as an entrepreneur like Lyons would do, he founded the subsidiary Toro Motor Co. to build engines. Lyons paid Minneapolis Steel $195 for each tractor, and Toro furnished the engines.
The Bull became the best selling tractor in 1914, making it the first commercially successful gas engine tractor. Until this time, the only options were large tractors and steam traction engines for working large areas. There was nothing available for the farmer with a small plot of land. When looking at the original sales brochure, it is apparent that the Little Bull?s main competition was a team of horses. The pitch was that the tractor could work all day and night and you didn?t have to feed it, no chores, no currying, and it could do the work of five good horses for the price of two poor ones.
I found this information online.
The Bull Tractor Co. was formed in 1913 by Patrick J. Lyons as the financier and D.M. Hartsough as the tractor designer. With visions of small tractors as the future they sold their popular Big Four line to Emerson Brantingham of Rockford, Illinois, for $2 million in 1912 to pave the way for their new venture.
The company started taking orders for the Little Bull 5-12 tractor in late 1913, before they had a factory to build them. On December 30, 1913, Lyons entered into a contract with Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company to build a minimum of 50 tractors a day. Minneapolis could not fill the order of engines, so as an entrepreneur like Lyons would do, he founded the subsidiary Toro Motor Co. to build engines. Lyons paid Minneapolis Steel $195 for each tractor, and Toro furnished the engines.
The Bull became the best selling tractor in 1914, making it the first commercially successful gas engine tractor. Until this time, the only options were large tractors and steam traction engines for working large areas. There was nothing available for the farmer with a small plot of land. When looking at the original sales brochure, it is apparent that the Little Bull?s main competition was a team of horses. The pitch was that the tractor could work all day and night and you didn?t have to feed it, no chores, no currying, and it could do the work of five good horses for the price of two poor ones.
