Artifacts | Manitoba Agricultural Museum

Rumely Model E 30-60 “The Tucker Engine” (1912)

Rumely Model E at the Museum led an interesting life before being rescued from a scrap pile in the 1950s by Joseph Tucker of Portage la Prairie and the Menshall Brothers of Pierson, Manitoba. Since that time it has been a resident at the Museum.

The Model E was purchased new in 1912 by an American named Olmstead who shipped it to Pierson, Manitoba where it broke land and custom threshed. Local legend has it that the tractor wore out five sets of gears during its working life. In 1922 the Burns Brothers purchased the tractor and used it to thresh until 1928. At some point after that it was sold to a scrap dealer in Carievale, Saskatchewan where Mr Tucker and the Menshall Brothers tracked it down in the 1950s. How the tractor escaped the scrap drives of World War Two is unknown.

Rumely was a builder of farm machinery, but best known for the Rumely Oil-Pull line of tractors. Over the course of the Rumely Company’s life, it accumulated other farm machinery companies including the Advance Thresher and Gaar-Scot companies. After these acquisitions, the company became known as the Advance-Rumely Company. Advance –Rumely went on to acquire the Aultman-Taylor Company.

The Rumely Company originally got its start when Meinrad Rumely left Germany and joined his brother in LaPorte, Indiana to operate a foundry. By 1859, the brothers were making corn shellers and horse powered threshing machines. The brothers went on to produce steam engines and a variety of other farm machinery including clover hullers, plows, cutting boxes, corn shellers, corn shredders, silo fillers, water wagons, cream separators and motor trucks. Rumely had a reputation for building quality machinery.

Rumely built a number of models of the Oil-Pull starting with the “B” and progressing on to the “E”, “F”, “G”, “H” and “K”.

The “E” was the largest of the “Heavy Weight” Oil-Pull tractor. The design was rated at 30 horsepower at the drawbar and 60 horsepower on the belt. Model Es were equipped with a two cylinder engine and as with all Oil Pull tractors the cooling fluid was oil. Model Es were built from 1910 to 1923 with 3,235 being produced.

The great depression resulted in the Advance–Rumely Company encountering financial difficulties. Allis-Chalmers purchased the company, mainly for the dealer network that Rumely had built up. Allis kept the Rumely 6A tractor, an up to date design, in production as well as the Rumely combines but all other Rumely machinery was discontinued.

Twin City 12-20

John Grey of Neepawa donated a 12-20 Twin City tractor to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum. The tractor’s serial number is 13819 indicating the tractor was built in 1920.

The Twin City line of tractors was built by the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

12-20 tractors were built between 1919 and 1926 with approximately 9700 12-20s produced. The 12-20 tractors presented a modern appearance for 1919 with an enclosed transmission and a heavy pressed steel frame. The tractor featured a 4 cylinder engine running at 1000 rpm. The cylinders had a bore of 4.25 inches and a stroke of 6 inches. The engine featured 4 valves per cylinder with twin cams activating the valves. This technology was cutting edge in 1919. The engine was fitted with a Bennet air cleaner later replaced by a Donaldson air cleaner in the production run, a Bosch DU4 magneto and a Holley carburetor.

The engine was mounted vertically and lengthwise in the tractor and drove a transmission with two forward speeds (2.2 mph and 2.9 mph) and one reverse gear through a clutch. 12-20 previous to serial number 12099. After this serial number an over centre Twin Disc clutch was used. This clutch operates with two pedals, one to engage the clutch and the other to disengage the clutch.

The cooling system had a capacity of 7 US gallons. The tractor weighed 5,000 pounds.

Formed in 1902, Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC) provided structural steel for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. MS&MC was also a contract manufacturer and engine supplier for other companies. Between 1909 and 1915 MS&MC supplied tractor engines for Reeves & Company plus manufactured the 30-60 tractor for Case and manufactured Bull tractors. In 1910 MS&MC began working with McVicker Engineering to develop a line of durable heavyweight gas tractors known as Twin City consisting of the 15-30, 25-45, 40-65 and 60-90 models. The demands of World War I resulting in the company building military munitions. However MS&MC continued development of a smaller tractor program which resulted in the 12-20 model.

The 12-20 was successful enough that it was followed by a larger “brother” the 20-35. The two tractors were under rated. In 1926, MS&MC made some minor changes and re-rated the tractors at 17-28 and 27-44. A 21-32 was added to the line up at that time.

While MS&MC had very successful tractor designs the company did not offer a line of tillage equipment. The emergence of IHC in the early 1900s with a complete line of farm machinery resulted in a very successful farm equipment company. To remain competitive the other farm machinery companies had to expand into full line suppliers. John Deere, Case, Massey Harris and other companies realized this and began to work towards offering a full line. MS&MC was no different and, in 1929, merged with the Moline Plow Company and the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company. The new company was called Minneapolis – Moline. Immediately before the merger, MS&MC had designed the KT and MT tractor models. Minneapolis – Moline continued production of the KT and MT tractors through to 1938. Many of these tractors were labeled as MM- Twin City tractors.

Rumely Oil Pull Light Weight Model M 20-35 (1927)

The Murray Brothers of Lyleton, Manitoba donated a Rumely Model M Oil Pull tractor to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum.

The Advance Rumely Company brought out the Light Weight Oil Pull Model M 20-35 in 1924. The Light Weight line of Oil Pulls was termed this as the frame of these tractor models was built of pressed steel rather than the heavy channel iron riveted together. Along with a redesigned frame, the engines used in the Light Weight series of tractors were also redesigned as well as the transmissions and drive trains. The open gears used to drive the rear wheels on the Heavy Weights were done away with and the gear train was now enclosed in oil. This was a big advantage as dust wore the open gears badly.

The Model M featured a 2 cylinder, horizontal, valve in head engine with removable cylinder sleeves. The bore was 6 13/16 inches with a stroke of 8 1/4 inches. A fly-ball governor of the Advance Rumely Company’s design was fitted. An Donaldson air cleaner of the oiled fibre type was also fitted. A Manzel lubricator was also fitted to provide forced oil feed to engine bearings. As well, splash lubrication was provided by the connecting rods moving through the oil in the bottom of the crankcase. As with all Oil Pulls, a Seccor-Higgins carburetor was fitted. The transmission provided 3 speeds ahead and one in reverse. The weight of the Model M was 8,750 pounds.

Advance Rumely Model Ms were built from 1924 to 1927. The Murray Brothers Model M has a serial number of 3524 making it built in 1927.

The Murray Model M features an optional Power Take Off (PTO). The PTO by 1924 was becoming a desirable feature in a tractor as the tractor could power a binder rather the binder being powered by the binder’s bull wheel or an auxiliary engine mounted on the binder. As well, PTOs made other labour saving farm machinery possible. The Rumely PTO was an add on attachment. A belt off the belt pulley drove a shaft that crossed underneath the tractor. At the end of this shaft was a small 90 degree gear box that drove a shaft that ran to the back of the tractor on the left side. It would appear that this gear box could be engaged or disengaged as it is fitted with a lever. Of course the belt pulley has to be engaged to operate this PTO making this “dead” PTO. That is when the clutch was operated to stop the tractor moving, the belt pulley and the PTO also came to a halt. In field operations this was a significant disadvantage.

At the time PTOs were relatively new and no standards, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) or otherwise were in force in 1924. So Rumely was free to do as it pleased which explains why Rumely located the PTO shaft tight to the left hand rear fender. To say the least this made hooking any other make of PTO operated machine than an Advance Rumely designed machine to this tractor, somewhat of an adventure. At a later date, ASME standards as to the height and position of the PTO on the tractor in relation to the drawbar came into being, making the mating of PTO driven machinery and tractors far more interchangeable.

IHC Mogul Type C 25 Horsepower

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum holds an International Harvester Company (IHC) Mogul Type C 25 Horsepower engine in its collection.

The International Harvester Co. was formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1902 by a merger of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co., the Deering Harvester Co. and a number of smaller companies. While both McCormick and Deering produced successful binders, they decided that rather than continue to compete with each other, they were better off merging. In this process a number of smaller manufacturers were also folded into the emerging company. The result was IHC which rapidly transformed the farm machinery business as this company offered an almost complete line of farm machinery for sale through their dealers. This was revolutionary as it meant that a farmer could, if the farmer wanted, deal with only one dealer. Previous to this point manufacturers built a small number of types of equipment and sold this equipment through dealers who also sold equipment from other manufacturers. Sometimes the same dealer handled competing lines. To complicate matters, some manufacturers entered into agreements with other manufacturers to handle their equipment. Sometime times these arrangements extended across all of the geographic areas serviced by the manufacturer. In other agreements, the agreement just covered one area. It was rare that one dealer handled all equipment that a farmer may need resulting in the farmer having to visit another dealer and perhaps being “stolen” away. Having a dealership which offered all the equipment that a farmer needed would avoid this issue.

As well having an almost complete line of equipment to sell resulted in IHC being less exposed to downturns in the equipment market. Usually some portion of IHC’s equipment line was selling, generating revenue for IHC and the dealer.

IHC was relatively well financed and was in a better position to offer financing to farmers wanting to purchase IHC equipment. Other manufacturers were not in this position and were prone to encountering serious financial difficulties if and when the agricultural markets downturned resulting in farmers not being able to meet their debt obligations. It should be noted that banks at this time were very conservative and often did not engage in farm lending. If a farm machinery company wanted to sell equipment, it often had to be prepared to finance this equipment

Other manufacturers realized that they had to match IHC and so also began to merge or acquire other companies in order to obtain a full line of equipment.

IHC did not manufacture a line of steam engines and stayed out of this segment of the farm machinery business. However IHC did enter into stationary gasoline engine manufacture and sales. IHC got into the business of manufacturing tractors in 1906. The first IHC tractor consisted of an IHC “Famous” single-cylinder stationary engine mounted on a Morton power chassis and featured friction drive to the wheels. As the IHC “Famous” engine came in different sizes – 10, 12, 15 and 20 horsepower, the first IHC tractors also came in these sizes.

The Morton power chassis was produced by Samuel Morton and was a four wheeled chassis with a power train and steering to which someone could add an internal combustion engine to make a tractor. Morton chassis were used by a number of early experimenters with tractors.

The friction drive used in the Morton chassis proved unsuitable under heavy load, and so was replaced by gear drive in the 1907 Type A model. The Type B superseded the Type A in 1908. Numerous modifications were made to the Morton chassis for the Type C tractor of 1909. “Mogul” name was applied to this tractor and was available in 20 and 25 horsepower versions.

IHC, by 1910, had two lines of tractors, the Mogul and the Titan, both built to completely different designs. In general the Mogul designs used a two cylinder opposed cylinder design while the Titan designs used an inline cylinder engine with the cylinders lying on their side. The Mogul tractors were built in IHC’s Chicago plant while Titans were built in IHC Milwaukee plant.

The Mogul line was sold the McCormick Dealers while the Titan was sold by the Deering dealers. Even through the two companies had amalgamated, IHC felt that many farmers were so loyal to one company or the other that IHC should maintain the two dealer networks. This lasted until 1920 when IHC realized that maintaining two lines of equipment was expensive and that sometimes the McCormick and Deering dealers were in competition for the same sale. The dealership network was amalgamated. In towns with both dealers, the strongest of the McCormick or Deering dealer in a town was chosen to be retained. The equipment lines were amalgamated as well and the McCormick-Deering line was born.

Hart-Parr Stationary Engine

The Hart-Parr company was formed in 1897 at Madison, Wisconsin by Charles Hart and Charles Parr. They had met while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison and had built three working internal combustion engines while still in university. After University they scraped together $3,000 and formed Hart-Parr. One of their first products was an inverted, vertical stationary engine using oil as a coolant. Oil had two advantages, it did not freeze, an important consideration in the Northern US and in Canada plus oil cooling resulted in an increased cylinder temperature, an important consideration in burning low grade fuels such as kerosene.

The Hart-Parr inverted stationary in the MAM collection was donated by A.G. Sissons of Portage La Prairie. It is mounted on a four wheel truck which was a common practice for stationary engines as it allowed for the engine to be easily moved around the farm from job to job.

Tudhope Anderson Company Horse Mower

The Museum collection includes a Tudhope Anderson horse mower which was donated to the Museum in the early 1960s.

Tudhope Anderson was a farm equipment manufacturer located in Orillia, Ontario. As well as manufacturing equipment,Tudhope Anderson also represented other North American equipment manufacturers in Western Canada. These companies included International Harvester and the Indiana Road Machinery Company.

Tudhope Anderson had its beginning in 1854 when William Tudhope set up a shop in Jarret, Ontario where he made iron hardware such as wagon parts. He then moved to Orillia where he opened a blacksmith and wheelwright shop. In 1890 William was joined by his five sons and they formed the Tudhope Carriage Company.

In 1902 one of the sons, J. B. Tudhope, formed the Tudhope Anderson Company with Harry Anderson.

Harry Anderson had immigrated to Canada in 1880, studied at the Ontario Agricultural College and took a homestead at Oak River, Manitoba in 1882. When the North West Rebellion broke out in 1885 he joined the 91th Battalion. After he mustered out he became involved in the farm machinery business in Manitoba with the John Elliot and Son Company and then with the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. He formed a partnership in 1889 with J. Bryan to act as agents for various manufacturers in Western Canada. The companies included the Emerson Company, Tudhope Carriage Co. and the Chatham Company. He then formed Tudhope Anderson with J. B. Tudhope and acted as the manager for Tudhope Anderson’s Western Canadian operations.

The Tudhope Anderson Company manufactured simple machinery like the horse mower in the Museum collection and distributed other manufacturers equipment. In 1911, Tudhope Anderson took over the manufacturing facilities of the Sylvester Company of Lindsay, Ontario after Sylvester encountered financial difficulties developing the “AutoHarvester.” Sylvester manufactured seed drill, grain binders, pumps, cultivators and gas engines. Sylvester managed to retain the gas engine part of their business.

Just when Tudhope Anderson wrapped up is not clear. There is some suggestion the Company suspended manufacturing in the early 1920s. In 1930s a company called OTACO (Orillia Tudhope Anderson Company) appeared and began manufacturing the Auto-Trac kit which converted a car into a tractor plus farm wagons and sleighs. With the advent of the Second World War, the Otaco plant was converted to war production and made aircraft landing gear. In 1948, Otaco obtained the license to from International Nickel to produce Ductalloy castings. While producing casting for other manufacturers, Otaco produced the Gold Tip plow share which it sold to farmers. Otaco was sold in the 1960s with the American owners finally closing the company in 1990.

The Tudhope Carriage Company was never part of Tudhope Anderson. This company was one of the first Canadian automobile manufacturers building the Everett 30 which later became known as the Tudhope. When the First World War started, the car plant was converted to war production and car manufacture never resumed after the war. Tudhope became involved in manufacturing specialty metal shapes. The Tudhope Carriage Company was wound up in the 1960s.

W. J. Ellard Root Vegetable Digger

Ellard Root Vegetable Digger as the Museum

The Museum collection holds a horse-drawn W. J. Ellard potato digger in its collection. This machine is a very unique one as it features a total of five forks at the back of the machine which spin in a circle so digging potatoes. Each fork has two tines.

The machine features a digging bit, a broad, heavy steel plate set at an angle. This bit when properly adjusted and the machine lowered to dig potatoes, runs in the earth just under the potatoes. As the bit has an upward angle to it so the dirt and potatoes are pushed upwards and loosened as the horse team draws the machine forward. The revolving forks then dig into the side of the row of potato plants and push the potatoes out the other side of the row on top of the ground. The dirt being loose falls through the tines of the forks and is left in the row. Of course this is in theory and while this may work in sandy soil, just how the machine would work in heavier soil that may be more prone to form clods is not known. As no modern machines use this method of digging action one can assume the W. J. Ellard digger was a blind alley in the development of potato diggers.

Ellard Root Vegetable Digger at the Museum

In the photos here, one can see the digging bit stored in the travel position, that is the bit is upside down in comparison to the position it would be in when ready to dig. One can also see a long lever which allows the operator to raise and lower the machine. When the machine was moving forward the operator could adjust the lever so lowering the machine into the ground. The forks appear to spin as the machine is moved forward with no means of shutting off or adjusting the speed of the forks revolve at. As one can see the machine is built largely of cast iron with the gears necessary to spin the forks being steel most likely. The forks are somewhat bent so it appears the machine did see use in the field.

There is very little information on the maker who may have been a blacksmith in the Ottawa area at one time. It appears there is at least one other W. J. Ellard potato digger in the hands of a private collector besides the machine in the Museum collection. It is not known whether this machine was suitable for digging forage turnips commonly grown to feed cattle in pioneer Manitoba.

T. Eaton and Company “Imperial” Wagon

The Imperial grain wagon in the Museum’s collection was donated to the Museum by Jim and Elmer Hellegards of Holland, Manitoba.

The T. Eaton and Company sold a very wide range of articles including wagons such as the Imperial wagon seen here. Harness, simple farm implements and tools were also sold. Eatons would not have made these items but would have contracted with a manufacturer to produce the items for Eatons.

Wagons such as this one were the tandem truck of the pioneer era. The box was able to carry a wide range of articles such as grain, livestock such as pigs, lumber and was even capable of hauling water if the box was fairly new and the joints tight. If not just line the box with a canvas tarp and that would hold the water. You could remove the box and fit the wagon chassis with a rack body to hold sheaves when threshing or hold loose hay. With the addition of a “Gatling Gun” seeder to the tail gate of a grain wagon you could broadcast spread seed. Once spread the seed could be covered over by a plow set to run two inches deep. The Gatling Gun seeder broadcast the seed by means of a spinning disc driven by chain and gear box off a rear wheel. A small hopper above the disc metered the seed onto the disc. Someone had to ride in the wagon box continually filling the hopper from the wagon box while another person drove the wagon.

The standard grain box held 60 bushels of wheat. The Imperial seen here has this size of grain box. Some grain wagons were fitted with a flared box above the wheels. These boxes would hold 90 bushels. But given the poor roads of the pioneer era, 60 bushels was as much as the farmer wanted to haul particularly if the farmer had a long haul to the nearest elevator. Many areas of the Prairies, when first settled, faced a 5 or 6 day roundtrip to the nearest elevator. There would have been no amenities along the trail and the most the farmer could hope for would be to find accommodation in the barns along the way for both himself and his team. Winter posed the danger of the weather “closing” in on the farmer and team while on the trail.

Grain wagons such as this Imperial were the primary farm transport vehicle until the late 1920s when trucks both became reliable and came down in price. With the arrival of the Great Depression in 1930, horses again became more economical to operate versus internal combustion engines and wagons regained their position as the chief farm transport. By the 1930s, economic conditions improved slightly but the Second World War and the conversion of car and truck plants to war purposes resulted in wagons remaining important farm transport on the prairies. With the end of the war, economical and reliable trucks were again available. Even more importantly road construction machinery was not only economical but had gained significantly in capacity. Wagons rapidly passed out of use on the prairies.

Surveyor’s Office

Welcome to a typical survey office from the late 1800s. It was from an office like this that surveyors managed the surveys of lands within early Manitoba. The earliest surveyors were men like David Thompson, Samuel Hearne and Peter Fidler who, equipped only with a sextant, trekked across the vast wilderness, observing the stars to determine their location and then drawing maps for use by their employers, the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company. Later land surveys were made to establish lots for the settlers of the Red River Colony. These “River Lots” were narrow strips of land running at right angles to the river in order to address concerns for the welfare and protection of the early settlers in the isolated colony. The river frontage also provided ready access to the transportation arteries of the day. With the acquisition by the Dominion of Canada from the Hudson Bay Company of the huge tract of land known as Ruperts Land, the extension of confederation into the West could now begin. Faced with an anticipated massive and sudden settlement of the new lands and the need to manage it in an orderly and controlled manner and avoid the many problems inherent in a “land rush”, the Government determined that a simple and straightforward survey system was needed.

As a result, the survey and mapping of the new lands became a high priority. The system adopted was composed of 36 square mile Townships, each subdivided into 36 one mile square Sections of 640 acres each. Please see the attached Township Diagram of Township 11 Range 11 West. The Museum is in the West ½ of Section 17. The new system was to abut the existing River Lots and was to be referenced to a Principal Meridian which was established from a point on the International Boundary approximately 10 miles West of Emerson.

Between the years 1870 and 1885, millions of acres of Western Canada were surveyed and “posted”. This involved the placing of thousands of survey monuments. These early survey monuments consisted of a mound and 4 pits with a wooden post and were positioned at the intersection of the Northern and Eastern boundaries of each Section with the “Quarter lines” which divided each Section into 4 Quarter Sections of 160 acres. Into each post was carved the particulars of its location in the Section as well as its Township and Range reference. In later years the wood posts were replaced with iron posts which were stamped with the same kind of information. This information allowed settlers to readily identify the location of their new homesteads and to provide certainty when applications for Crown Grants were made. Samples of many of the types of monuments used over the years are on display here as well as a typical mound and pits which have been built just behind this building.

A major part of the settlement and development of the West was the construction of the trans-continental railroad. Suitable locations along the route were used as centers for the railway construction workers and engineers. Many of these sites gradually developed as people settled there and began working for the railroad or in related business. Surveys were carried out to create lots for these homes and businesses. Many of these early settlements still exist today with a common thread being the numerical street designations and the familiar “North and South Railway Avenues” linked by a “Main” or “Center Street”.

The methods and tools used in surveying have greatly changed over the years: the 66 foot “Gunters” chain and theodolite have been replaced by electronic equipment called Total Stations which measure distances and angles and digitally record the gathered information. Positioning on the ground by observations of the stars now mostly relies on man-made satellites and Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment.

The responsibility for surveys and surveyors, while originally the responsibility of the Dominion Government in support of the Property Rights system (Letters Patent and Crown Land Grants), now rests with the Association of Manitoba Land Surveyors, founded in 1881 under Provincial legislation to support the Provincial Real Property Act (Certificates of Title) and the Registry Act (Deeds to land) in Manitoba.

Additional information is available on the Manitoba Land Surveyors website.

Case 25-75 “McMurachy” (1907)

In the summer of 2012, the Comfort Inn Brandon invited the Manitoba Agricultural Museum to display an artifact on the lawn of the hotel. As a Museum artifact on display would give the Museum great public exposure, the Museum agreed to this invitation and moved a non operational steam engine to a display pad on the lawn and installed signage.

The steam engine went on display in Brandon is a J. I. Case 25-75 steam engine built in 1907. 25-75 refers to the horsepower as this engine developed 25 horsepower at the drawbar and 75 horsepower on the belt. This engine was capable of both plowing and driving belt powered machinery such as a threshing machine. From the gear train wear on the engine, it has seen hard work plowing and probably broke many acres of Manitoba Prairie.

The engine was donated to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum in the early 1960s by Joseph McMurachy of McConnell, Manitoba. The McMurachy family was a Pioneer family in the McConnell area and owned the engine since new. In the late 1970s age finally caught up with this veteran, the engine’s boiler failed inspection and the engine was retired by the Museum.

The engine was moved out to the main gate to the Museum to act as a gate guardian. In 2012, when an opportunity arose to place a Museum artifact on display in Brandon, this engine was chosen to go on display as it has some historical significance in the Westman area.

Mr. Joseph McMurachy was the person who discovered and saved the genetic material that was developed into the rust resistant “Selkirk” wheat variety in common use in the 1950s. In 1930, while cutting a field of wheat severely affected by rust disease, Mr. McMurachy noticed three plump heads of wheat on the table of the grain binder. These heads were unaffected by rust. He saved the three heads as they were unaffected by rust and replanted the seeds in order to multiply the wheat. In 1935, Mr. McMurachy supplied some of these seeds to the Federal Department of Agriculture, the Brandon Experimental Farm and the Winnipeg Cereal Breeding Laboratory. By crossing this wheat with other wheat varieties, the rust resistant Selkirk variety of wheat evolved. Selkirk was in wide usage from 1953 through the 1960s.