Cockshutt Model 428 Combine

Cockshut model 428

Cockshutt entered combine production in the late 1930s with the introduction of the Number 6 pull type combine.

Cockshut model 428

Well before the Second World War wound down to an end, Cockshutt began planning for the post war period. Cockshutt recognized that the reduced agricultural equipment manufacture resulting from the war along with increased agricultural production would result in the existing stock of farm equipment being worn out by the end of the war. As well farmers would have built up significant bank balances due to decent prices and demand for agricultural products. So there would be good demand after the war for modern farm machinery.

In addition, Cockshutt had modernized their manufacturing plants to manufacture war material for the government. In many cases the government had actively assisted manufacturers, including Cockshutt, to obtain modern manufacturing equipment and develop the needed technical skills to operate this equipment. As well war demands had also resulted in manufacturers being able to increase their engineering staff. Cockshutt as a result had greatly increased capabilities as a company.

One of the first wave of new products for the post war period was the development of a self-propelled combine. The Models SP109 and SP110 were in farmers’ fields in the fall of 1944 and were well received. Cockshutt developed the self-propelled combine line further after the war and introduced further models offering further developments such as hydraulically controlled tables, power steering and variable sheave traction drive.

The MAM collection contains a Cockshutt 428 self-propelled combine. The 428 was in production between 1956 and 1962. The standard 428 come with a 12 foot header however 10 or 15 food headers were offered as options. Other standard equipment included a Chrysler flat head 6 cylinder industrial engine offering 76 horsepower and a Cockshutt Drive-O-Matic traction drive which was a four speed transmission coupled to a variable sheave drive. The variable sheave drive was hydraulically controlled off a foot pedal on the operator’s platform. This combination offered ground speeds varying from 5/8 to 9 MPH. The table was hydraulically raised and lowered.

The cylinder had 8 rasp bars and was 311/4 inches long and 21 7/8 inches in diameter. The speed of the cylinder could be varied from 727 rpm to 1178 rpm. The separation area was 32 inches wide and 117 inches long.

Accessories included a retractable finger auger on the table, lights, a pickup reel with 4 or 6 inch tooth spacing, ScourKleen auxiliary recleaner, slow speed cylinder sprockets, straw spreader and hour meter.

The Cockshutt Model 427 was essentially the same machine only a smaller engine was used which offered only 72 horsepower.

Twin City 21-32

Twin City 21-32
Twin City 21-32

The Museum has two Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company Twin City 21-32 tractors in the collection.

Minneapolis Moline Power Implement Company (MM) was formed in 1929 with the consolidation of the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, Moline Plow Company, and Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC). The Twin City tractor line made by MS&MC since 1910 continued to be sold by MM through to 1938.

As Twin City tractors had earned a sound reputation and was recognized by farmers,  MM retained the Twin City name and marketed tractors under this name for a period of time. In the early-mid-thirties, MM began to label the tractors as Minneapolis-Moline Twin City.

The Twin City 21-32 design enjoyed a long development period. Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC) began work on the new engine design, the FE, in 1925. Cylinder head design had progressed significantly in the early 1920s and  a two valve per cylinder design was possible that offered better flow than the 4 valve per cylinder design used in the 12-20 and 17-28 at a cheaper cost to manufacture. As well the design was changed to allow cylinders and heads to be cast in two pairs. This was felt to offer ease of repair.

Twin City 21-32

MS&MC installed the FE engine in chassis similar to that used by the 17-28 and called the result the 21-32 tractor. The 21-32 was fitted with a Zenith U-6 carburetor and a dry type Bennett air cleaner. 21-32 was rated at 31 horsepower on the drawbar and 36 horsepower on the belt. 302 21-32s were built between 1916 and 1928.

In 1928, a heavier final drive and transmission was developed that offered three forward speeds. In 1929, Minneapolis-Moline (M-M) replaced the 21-32 with the 21-32 FT which include the new 3 speed transmission. A Stromberg M-3  carburetor, a Donaldson dry type air cleaner and Bosch magneto were fitted to the FE engine.

In the 1930s the 21-32 design was further modified to become the FTA tractor.

Minneapolis Moline Power Implement Company (MM) was formed in 1929 with the consolidation of the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, Moline Plow Company, and Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC). The Twin City tractor line made by MS&MC since 1910 continued to be sold by MM through to 1938.

As Twin City tractors had earned a sound reputation and was recognized by farmers,  MM retained the Twin City name and marketed tractors under this name for a period of time. In the early-mid-thirties, MM began to label the tractors as Minneapolis-Moline Twin City.

Allis Chalmers Model E 20-35

Allis-Chalmers-20-35

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum collection contains an Allis Chalmers Model E 20-35 tractor, which was donated to the Museum by Mr. R.W. Gardiner of Clearwater, Manitoba.

Allis-Chalmers-20-35

The Allis Chalmers Company resulted from a 1901 merger of heavy machinery manufacturing companies in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Allis Chalmers (AC) experienced some growth issues which resulted in the company declaring bankruptcy in 1912. The company was reorganized and resumed business. One of the receivers in the bankruptcy was Otto Falk, who become President of the reorganized company. Falk had the idea that AC should enter the farm machinery business. He arranged for AC to obtain the license to build the Motoculture Company’s self-propelled rotary cultivator. However, this Swiss designed cultivator failed to sell to North American farmers. AC then designed a tractor-truck which also failed to sell to farmers. However, AC at the same time designed Model 10-18 tractor which was an example of the three wheeled tractor craze which was sweeping North America at the time. The best example of the three wheeler tractor were the Little Bull and Big Bull tractors. The three-wheeler craze was short lived, and soon fell out of favor with farmers. AC then designed the Model 6-12 tractor which was a motor cultivator type. However, the tractor was not a sales success. To make matters worse, the design so closely copied the Universal tractor, that when Moline purchased Universal, Moline successfully sued AC for copying the design.

At this time, the future of tractor design was being illuminated by the Fordson design. AC designed a response to the Fordson, the AC 15-30. The horsepower rating was too conservative and the tractor was soon re-rated as 18-30 and called the Model E. AC modified the tractor somewhat and the Model E 18-30 when tested at Nebraska, was re-rated again at 20-35. Most of this horsepower increase apparently was due to the engine being configured to burn gasoline. While kerosene-fueled  20-35s were produced, these tractors were exported abroad.

Horse Power Sweep

horse-Sweep
horse-Sweep

The Museum has three horse sweeps, one that has been rebuilt and is in use at the annual Threshermen’s Reunion and Stampede to drive either a baler or a hand-fed threshing machine. Two other sweeps are stored in the equipment yard in an incomplete condition. All three were donated in the late 1950s or early 1960s and came with the wooden components largely rotted away as they had been discarded outside many years previously.

About 1840, horse power sweeps were developed which could be used to drive machinery. Daniel Massey, an American who was then farming near Cobourg, Ontario imported a threshing machine and power sweep to drive it in 1845. Massey then started a machine shop and foundry and began to manufacture power sweeps around 1848. Massey went on to build other agricultural machinery and in so doing, laid the foundations of the Massey family involvement in agricultural machinery manufacture.

Horse sweeps were built in a variety of sizes from one-horse to eight-horse models. There were even models built which featured a built-in grain grinder or a stationary baler.

About 1875, Manitoba saw its first power sweep which was used to drive a threshing machine. Sweeps spread west with a power sweep and threshing machine being taken to Battleford, North West Territories (now Saskatchewan) as early as 1878.

Sweep

The simplest description of a horse power sweep is that it is a right-angle gear box that sits on the ground with one shaft pointing straight up. The other shaft was parallel with and close to the ground. On the shaft that pointed straight up was attached an arm or a number of arms to which horses were hitched. The shaft that was parallel to the ground was attached to a long shaft lying on the ground. This shaft was long enough that it cleared the ends of the arms. This shaft drove another right angle gear box with a belt pulley on the output shaft of this gear box. A flat belt could then drive a threshing machine, circular saw, grist mill or other belt driven machine. The horse power sweep at the Museum uses this arrangement.

Power sweeps had some drawbacks. They were clumsy to move and because the machine took up a fair amount of room were impossible to operate in a building. In the winter or during cold weather, it may have been useful to operate the sweep inside a building to keep the horses warm and avoid issues with snow and ice. Sweeps also suffered from a built-in problem. While the horse was pulling on the end of the beam, the beam as it revolved, was moving off the line of draft. Overall, treadmills were more efficient than sweeps on a per-horse basis.

Oddly enough, horses were usually the only animal considered fit to operate a sweep. Oxen were a popular farm traction animal because the beasts, while slow, were powerful and did not require as much care as a horse. Oxen were also capable of eating lower quality forage than a horse. A further benefit may have been that, when the oxen became worn out, they were more acceptable for the stew pot than horses. However, oxen were not typically used to power a sweep because they were thought to be susceptible to becoming dizzy from walking in a circle. As well as horse sweeps, dog sweeps were also made. Dogs could power washing machines, cream separators, and similar light-duty equipment.

Horse power sweeps were common in pioneer Manitoba up to the 1900s but rare by the end of the 1920s. Gas engines and gas tractors by that time offered more economical horsepower.

A four-horse sweep in the Museum has been rebuilt with new wood components. This sweep has been examined however there are no markings present as to who manufactured the machine. When the machine was donated to the Museum in the late 1950s, there was no one who had seen the machine in operation so there are details of operation that the Museum is missing.

Cockshutt Model 80

Cockshutt-80
Cockshutt-80

While Cockshutt had an extensive line of tillage equipment and of harvest equipment, Cockshutt lacked a tractor to fill out is line up of farm machinery. With other machinery companies offering a complete line of machinery, Cockshutt was at a disadvantage. Farmers had a reason to visit another farm machinery dealer and while there the farmer could be “converted” to another make of machinery. Cockshutt noticed that its sales were slowly declining with farmers turning to other farm machinery companies. However Cockshutt also realized:

  • that a large amount of money was needed to develop a tractor and tool up for production of this tractor,
  • many companies building tractors had often  experienced a succession of troublesome tractor models,
  • the Canadian market was relatively small and may not support a Canadian Company particularly when many US companies were active selling tractors into the Canadian market.

To fill out the line with a tractor, in 1928 Cockshutt began selling Allis Chalmers 20-35 tractor. In 1929 the Allis Chalmers Model U began to be sold by Cockshutt. However the Model U was plagued by engine problems which were severe enough that Allis Chalmers arranged for a short block engine exchange beginning in 1931. A new engine was introduced into the Model U in 1934.Cockshutt is suspected of being unhappy with the engine problems experienced by the Allis Chalmers tractors. Cockshutt signed an agreement in 1935 with the Oliver Company to market the Hart Parr line of tractors in Canada. Oliver had more production capacity than sales for Hart Parr tractors and so Oliver was interested in a larger share of Canadian tractor sales. And Cockshutt needed a good tractor line and the Canadian farmers were aware of the Hart Parr line of tractors.The first Hart Parr tractors sold by Cockshutt had the name Cockshutt cast into the radiator tank with the words Hart Parr in smaller letters cast below. The tractors came painted in a dark green with red wheels. Cockshutt sold the Model 60, 70 and 80 tractors produced by Oliver.The Oliver Model 8 tractor appeared in 1937 and stayed in production until 1948. The 80 was available in both standard tread and row crop configuration.  A Buda-Lanova diesel engine was an option that could be ordered on the Oliver 80. However the most common engine in an Oliver 80 was an internal combustion engine built by Waukesha for Oliver. This engine could either be set up for kerosene or gasoline fuel operation.

Minneapolis-Moline Twin City FTA

Minneapolis-Moline Twin City FTA
Minneapolis-Moline Twin City FTA
Minneapolis-Moline Twin City FTA Tractor

The Museum has a Minneapolis Moline Twin City FTA tractor in the collection donated by the C. H. Jarvis Family of Dakota, Manitoba.

Minneapolis Moline Power Implement Company (MM) was formed in 1929 with the consolidation of the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, Moline Plow Company, and Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC). The Twin City tractor line made by MS&MC since 1910 continued to be sold by MM through to 1938.

As Twin City tractors had earned a sound reputation and was recognized by farmers,  MM retained the Twin City name and marketed tractors under this name for a period of time. In the early-mid-thirties, MM began to label the tractors as Minneapolis-Moline Twin City.

The FTA was a result of a long development of the Twin City 21-32 design. MS&MC began work on the new engine design, the FE, in 1925. Cylinder head design had progressed significantly in the early 1920s and  a two valve per cylinder design was possible that offered better flow than the 4 valve per cylinder design used in the 12-20 and 17-28 at a cheaper cost to manufacture. As well the design was changed to allow cylinders and heads to be cast in two pairs. This was felt to offer ease of repair.

MS&MC installed the FE engine in chassis similar to that used by the 17-28 and called the result the 21-32 tractor. The 21-32 was fitted with a Zenith U-6 carburetor and a dry type Bennett air cleaner. 21-32 was rated at 31 horsepower on the drawbar and 36 horsepower on the belt. 302 21-32s were built between 1916 and 1928.

In 1928, a heavier final drive and transmission was developed that offered three forward speeds. In 1929, Minneapolis-Moline (M-M) replaced the 21-32 with the 21-32 FT which include the new 3 speed transmission. A Stromberg M-3  carburetor, a Donaldson dry type air cleaner and Bosch magneto were fitted to the FE engine.

In 1935, the engine bore was increased bringing the engine displacement to 403 cubic inches. Compression was increased as well. This redesigned engine was fitted to the FT resulting in the FTA model which was rated at 33 horsepower on the drawbar and 41 horsepower on the belt. Heavy cast rear wheels able to be fitted with rubber tires were also offered. Additional wheel weights could bring the weight of the tractor to nearly 8,000 pounds making the tractor capable of handling heavy tillage tasks.

Minneapolis Moline continued production of the FTA through 1938. Most of these post merger late models have MM-Twin City cast into the top radiator tank. Between the 21-32, FT and FTA, 15,228 units were produced.

Muir House (1879)

Muir House
Muir House

The Muir Log House celebrated its 135th Anniversary in 2014. The house was built in 1879, by the Muir family, who were early pioneers in the MacGregor district.  The house was moved to the Museum in 1971, from the just-southeast of the present town of MacGregor. It is a one and half story structure that measures 14 feet by 16 feet with a wood shingled roof and wooden eaves trough. On the wall in the kitchen is a photograph of the first generation (in later years) of the Muir family with five children from 1910. This was quite a small number considering the third generation that lived in the house had ten children. The house is furnished with many artifacts that belonged to the Muir family dating from between 1860 and 1900.

Rumely Oil Pull Type R (1926)

Rumely Type R
Rumely Type R

In 1924, Advance – Rumely introduced the “Light Weight” line of Oil Pull tractors which featured a pressed steel frame in place of the heavy channel built up channel iron frame. Rumely completely redesigned the engines, transmissions and drive train used in the Light Weight line as well. The drive gears were completely enclosed and ran in oil, a big advantage over the exposed gears of the Heavy Weights as dust wore exposed gearing badly. The Light Weights were generally more compact tractors than the preceding Heavy Weight designs particularly the Model E and Model F.

The Model R featured a two cylinder engine with 7 13/16 inch bore and 9 ½  in stroke running at 540 rpm. There was force feed lubrication to the engine combined with splash lubrication in the bottom of the crankcase. A Manzel lubricator fed oil to the force feed lubrication system. The engine was equipped with a DU4 Bosch magneto, Donaldson air cleaner and a Seccor-Higgins Carburetor. The transmission offered 3 speeds ahead and one in reverse. Type R was rated at 25-45.

The Museum’s Model R has the serial number 526 making the tractor built in 1926.

The Museum’s Model R is fitted with a disc type flywheel which was introduced on the Light Weights to replace spoked flywheels. The disc type flywheel was disliked as it seemed to magnify engine sounds. As well, it was claimed disc type flywheels could ring like a bell under certain circumstances. Rumely in response to complaints changed back to spoked flywheels on their tractors. Many tractors produced with disc type flywheels had the spoked flywheels installed at a later date.

Sunshine Waterloo Combine

Sunshine combine
Sunshine combine

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum has a late model Sunshine Waterloo combine in the collection.

The Sunshine combine was a design of the H.V. McKay Company of Melbourne, Australia with the first one built by McKay in 1924. While we would call this machine a combine, the Australians call it a stripper header not because one needed to be naked to operate it but rather because the machine was equipped with a comb type header to straight cut grain by cutting the stalk immediately below the head so only the heads and a minimal volume of stalks were taken into the cylinder to be threshed. In other words, only the head was stripped off the stalk during harvest. This form of operation was successful in Australia as the growing seasons are quite long and there is no winter with snow at the end of the season. In many areas of Australia as well the growing season is timed so as the harvest begins with the onset of summer when the weather becomes hotter and drier. The crop then can remain out in the field until perfectly dry.

Stripper type headers for combines have been experimented with in Canada over the years but have not found favor on the Prairies.  One reason is that straw is needed in many areas to bed cattle during the winter. The operation of a stripper header would result in no straw being readily available for baling. Another reason would be that many areas of the Prairies are wetter than Australia and more straw is produced. If this straw was left standing in the field it would cause issues with further field operations. So farmers are inclined to cut it down and chop it up with the combine.  Canadians could also be victims of the “not invented here” syndrome however.

The first Sunshine Auto Headers used a Fordson engine. In 1926 McKay switched to a Wisconsin 4 cylinder in-line water-cooled engine. The model WA, WT and WB Auto Headers had a 30 HP engine and 2 forward (3 mph, and 2 mph and 1 reverse gear 1.4 mph. The width of cut was 12 feet. In 1937 the improved KA and KT headers were produced with a 36 HP engine, a 3 speed gear box and a forward/reverse gear and a hand over-centre clutch. The platform raising and lowering were power operated and the cutting width was 12 or 14 feet. All models featured a reversed tricycle type of wheel arrangement with one-wheel drive. A pinion on the inside of the gear-box drove an internal ring gear on the 54 inch diameter  drive wheel  at the front of the machine on the right side.  On the left front side was a 54 inch diameter un-powered wheel. There was a lone 30 inch wheel at the back of the bagging platform that did the steering. All wheels were steel. The engine was immediately beside the drivers seat. With the engine so close perhaps many operators did remove their clothes in order become more comfortable when operating the machine.

In 1929 McKay and Massey-Harris along with the Waterloo Manufacturing Co. incorporated the Sunshine-Waterloo Company Ltd. with the intent of adapting McKay’s self-propelled combine design for the North American and Argentinean market. In 1930, the newly formed company built a 285,000 sq. ft. plant in Waterloo, Ontario. In exchange McKay was granted the exclusive Australian distribution of Massey-Harris farm equipment.

Although set up to produce mainly farm equipment, in order to survive the tough economic times of the thirties, the new company manufactured a multitude of products, including baby carriages, bicycles, tricycles roller skates and  automotive stampings for cars. Waterloo Manufacturing withdrew from the joint venture in 1934.

During World War Two the Sunshine Waterloo Co. was a major producer for the war effort as a result of being converted to war production in 1939. During the war security was high at the plant due to the fact that it produced tank, airplane and truck parts, as well as ammunition, land mines, and various bombs.

After the war the company resumed production of bicycles and began producing office products, stoves, shelving and lockers. The Sunshine combine was rather dated by this time and does not appear to have been put back into production. In 1955 the McKay family sold their holdings to Massey Ferguson. In 1961, Sunshine Waterloo became the Sunshine Office Equipment Company. The company wrapped up operations in 1978.

Hugh Victor McKay was an early pioneer in the combine field.  Australian farm machinery in the late 1800s was quite different than what was developed in North America. With no need to harvest straw the Australians had developed a horse drawn stripper type header. This simple machine just cut off the heads and dumped them into a box. This material was then taken to a hand powered or horse sweep threshing cylinder which threshed these heads with the grain and chaff then going on to a separate machine, the winnower, which cleaned the grain. McKay hated cranking the winnower apparently and decided to build a machine that would do all these seperate operations in one machine. After collecting a number of old or junk machines including a reaper, binder, winnower and a stripper header plus assembling a set of blacksmith tools McKay and one of his brothers set to work. By 1884 they had a prototype which managed to harvest two acres of wheat. The machine was named the “Sunshine” harvester.

The Sunshine Harvester’s benefits were immediately obvious and McKay enjoyed good sales success. By 1920. H.V. McKay owned the largest farm implement factory in the Southern Hemisphere and had significant sales outside Australia. At its peak, the enterprise employed nearly 3,000 workers.

Massey-Harris did a lot of business selling grain binders but did not have a combine.  In 1900 Massey-Harris joined with H.V. McKay and wasted no time getting into the Australian market with their stripper/thresher.  This machine stripped the grain heads off and sent them directly into the threshing cylinder and on to the cleaning shoe.  The Australians were quick to adopt the bulk-bin concept.  The bin could dump directly into a waiting wagon or could drop the grain into sacks for hauling away.  Sacking required two people and quickly fell out of favor.

Wallis 20-30 (1928)

Wallis 20-30
Wallis 20-30

Manufactured by the Massey Harris Company

With the death of J.I. Case in 1891 and the resulting financial troubles, the Case group of companies was split into two entities, the J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company and the J.I. Case Plow Works. Henry Wallis a son-in-law of J.I. Case took over J.I. Case Plow Works in 1892.

Having two companies J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company and J.I. Case Plow Works was a source of confusion which led to legal action between the two companies. J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company was the company which built the Case steam engines and gas tractors.

In 1912 Henry Wallis entered the tractor business and established the Wallis Tractor Company. Right from the start the Wallis Tractor Company built tractors that were well engineered. The 1914 Cub tractor model introduced an important innovation the use of boiler plate formed into a U shape which then formed the engine crankcase and the case for the transmission. A bulkhead divided the crankcase and transmission case. This one piece case provided a stiff foundation for the tractor. Enclosed final drives soon followed. Wallis used roller bearings where possible and was known for the use of high quality materials in construction.

By 1927 Wallis tractors had evolved substantially. The Cub has evolved through the Cub Junior, Model K, Model OK, Certified 15-27 into the 20-30. The 20-30 featured a four cylinder engine with 4.375 inch bore and 5.75  inch stroke, Kingston Model L carburetor, American Bosch ZU4 magneto, Kingston governor, internal engine lubricating oil pump and oil bath air cleaner. The tractor came with a Power take off and a three speed transmission.  In 1928, the J.I. Case Plow Works was purchased by Massey Harris (MH). Wallis was part of this company and MH continued selling Wallis tractors under the Wallis name until 1932. At that time the Model 20-30 was upgraded into the Model 25 which was sold as Massey Harris with the Wallis name disappearing from production.

While Massey Harris (MH) did not produce steam engines, the Massey family had a significant financial interest in the Sawyer Massey Company which did build steamers. However in 1910 there was a disagreement over producing gas tractors which resulted in the Massy family selling their interest in Sawyer Massey. However the Massey family remained interested in gas tractors. The Sawyer Massey experience did point out to the Massey family that engine development was expensive so outside engine suppliers or purchasing a tractor from another manufacturer were options to consider for MH.

In 1917, MH attempted to secure the popular US made Bull tractor, for sale through its dealers. However the deal fell apart. MH then secured the manufacturing rights to the Parrett tractor. The tractor entered production in Toronto in 1918 and stayed in production until late 1922 going through three versions which incorporated various improvements. In 1922, MH realized it could not compete with the Fordson tractor which cost 1/3 the price of the MH Parrett so MH ceased production of the tractor. However MH realized that the lack of tractor line placed MH at a disadvantage compared to companies like IHC. A tractor line was needed and MH then attempted to strike an agreement with the J.I. Case Plow Works to sell this company’s line of Wallis tractors in Canada through MH dealers. In 1928, after complicated negotiations, MH purchased the J.I. Case Plow Works, immediately selling the name to the J.I. Case Threshing Machine Company for ½ the price MH had purchased the entire company for. The purchase of the Plow Works gave MH production plants in the US.MH sold Wallis tractors until 1932 when the tractors were re-badged as Massey Harris.