Sunday Tractor

Another lovely running tractor when the curator started it. I do not know how common they were in the US but most towns and museums in Australia have one, in various conditions. This was the nicest I came across.
Moline Number 1

Moline Universal. They are fairly common in the Midwest. The concrete counterweight was a design add on after the realization that they tip over. In 1915 $150 would put one of these on your farm equipped with electric starter and lights.

I have heard the first were a 2 cylinder and later 4 cylinder. I have seen several of the 4 cylinder machines. I had the orignal owners manual for my grandpas tractor until I had to move about 7 years ago and it got lost along with several other important to me items. Mom told me Grandpa traded his of on a mogal after being about dumped into the creek with it. They were designed to use what could be considered mounted equipment. You took the rear wheel dolly off and in its plase you backed that part of the tractor over a 2 bottom plow, disk, grain binder to use. They were not intended to actually pull any horse drawn machinery to work but you could hook a implement to the removeable rear axle And that I think is what Grandpa was trying to do when he about got dumped into the creek. Doing that would just make the rear wheels in the transport dollie slid when turning as it was an artichlated tractor without any weight on the rear wheels. So it just tried to keep going straight when he tried to turn. Grandpa traded that Mogal onto a new 1935 John Deere B, then he got a 1837 John Deere G. I don't know if he traded that B on the G or not but later he also got a 41 B. That G was what he had when Dad signed on as baler help where he met Mom The baler was a Deere as well and was a pickup baler with its own engine and 2 people had to ride the back end to punch ant tie wires. Grandpa died in 43 when I was 2 months old. He was already old when he died having been born the year Lincoln got shot. Grandpa did not like horses and his first car was fairly new 1908 Model T Ford he used to court grandma. And Mom was born in 1913 and her older brother in 1911 and he died in 45 of heart problems.

That tipping over was from all the weight being on the one side and non on the other wheel.