8029 The Best of John Deere

THE BEST OF

John Deere 44. Scaled to Perfection

Granddad, grandson join forces on half-scale Waterloo Boy. Leslie C. McManus

4. From Plowshares to Stock Shares

John Deere company namesake set the course for farm equipment giant.

Leslie C. McManus Farm Collector / February 2004

8. New Life for Old Shellers

Antique corn shellers showcase painstaking craftsmanship.

Ted “Dutch” deHaan Farm Collector / November 2012

12. Time Travelers

Wagons, buggies transport Iowa collector to a different era.

Loretta Sorensen Farm Collector / April 2008

16. Adam and Eve, & 1892 A modified one-cylinder Model “D” test engine and part of a Waterloo Boy transmission were used in a Froelich Tractor replica.

John Huber John Deere Tradition / July 2001

20. John Deere Bicycle: What goes around, comes around...

Gene Ritzinger

John Deere Tradition / June 2001

24. Joining Forces

How Syracuse Chilled Plow Co. came to be part of Deere & Co. Sam Moore Farm Collector / March 2009

28. Choosing a Slower Pace

South Dakota man finds satisfaction farming with vintage equipment.

Loretta Sorensen Farm Collector / December 2007

32. Life in the Fast Lane

Deere test drives roles as automaker, race car sponsor.

Brenda Kruse John Deere Tradition / January 2001

36. The Velie Influence Family played key role in John Deere’s early diversification.

Brenda Kruse John Deere Tradition / July 2001

40. The Once Mighty Early industrialist with Deere family ties built cars, trucks and tractors.

Sam Moore Farm Collector / February 2012

Farm Collector / July 2015

48. Portal to the Past

Collectible wrenches tell story of antique farm equipment.

Bill Vossler Farm Collector / April 2007

52. Slipping through the Cracks of History

Unique John Deere all-wheeldrive tractor finally returns home.

Scott Hollis Farm Collector / June 2004

56. Breaking the Mold Model ‘E’ Engines

Delivered dependable, maintenance-free operation.

Chris Boyens John Deere Tradition / June 2003

62. The Bean Tractor Made to order.

Paul Ostrander

70. Green & Clean

John Deere Type EP was the company’s attempt at combating dusty field conditions in the American south.

Paul Ostrander Gas Engine Magazine / Feb.-March 2010

76. Everything that Glitters is a Gold John Deere “D” Commemorative tractor created for centennial celebration in 1937.

Brenda Kruse John Deere Tradition / August 2002

78. Home Grown

Intricate scale models sprout from scavenged parts & ingenuity.

Don Voelker Farm Collector / March 2008

82. The Girl Who Went to Moline To Get a Tractor Jason B. Harmin John Deere Tradition / February 2003

86. Second Wind for Windrower

Implement found in perfect condition after 40-year hiatus.

Beth Beavers Farm Collector / March 2011

88. 45 @ 50

Restored John Deere combine heads for the fields.

Leslie C. McManus Farm Collector / January 2009

90. Big Stuff

John Deere Wagners delivered four-wheel drive to the farm.

Bill Vossler Farm Collector / March 2003

94. Iron Age Ad

The plow that made John Deere famous..

David Schnakenberg Farm Collector / March 2010

96. Iron Age Ad

Companies intertwined.

David Schnakenberg Farm Collector / September 2012

John Deere Tradition / February 2003

66. Putting the Past in Perspective

Retired educator puts focus on 1930s tractor, implements.

Leslie C. McManus Farm Collector / April 2009

This publication has not been prepared, approved or licensed by Deere & Company. We recognize that some word, model names, logos and designations mentioned are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for illustrative and identification purposes only.

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In working with John Deere No. 1 and No. 2 shellers, I have gained extensive brandspecific experience.

One of the first things I always seem to need for a sheller restoration is a fan belt.

That was my first success, as I made them out of buna rubber cord stock.

Next came feed tables for the No. 1 series. Fabricated of sheet metal, they allow continual feed of corn into the sheller.

These required detailed, authentic fabrication with support brackets as well as authentic hardware. I’ve also made wood/sheet metal feed tables for No. 2 shellers.

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NEW LIFE FOR

Old Shellers

issues invariably present restoration

ANTIQUE CORN SHELLERS SHOWCASE PAINSTAKING CRAFTSMANSHIP

challenges.

Many of the John Deere

By Ted “Dutch” deHaan

W

sheller parts

hat started out as a simple woodworking hobby has grown into something way beyond my early interests.

I began by restoring an old cider press and then found myself at farm auctions, looking for items that were essentially “beyond hope” from a structural perspective. These implements – corn shellers, cider presses, feed grinders, scales and horse-drawn items like single-row corn planters – were predominately wood. All of their mechanical parts were present but because of the condition of the structure, they only qualified for a total rebuild. Almost all were free-standing, hand-operated units.

have been out of production for more than 60 years.

Working with various sources and plain old ingenuity, I get by. When

Many such pieces are very old. Some were made as early as the mid-1800s, others date to the early 20th century. I continued to focus mainly on these older “wood-frame” pieces for a number of years until someone brought me a John Deere corn sheller to restore. Although I still worked on older items like cider presses, that sheller launched me into a series of John Deere restorations, which in turn forced me to move beyond my typical woodworker comfort level. Working for private collectors, I’ve done total restorations on more than a dozen cider presses as well as feed choppers, horsedrawn planters and gas engines.

Preserving the past Along with these projects came a variety of obstacles (or opportunities). The first thing to surface early in all my restoration work was the need for basic hardware, typically square-head nuts and bolts.

Then I needed old-style wood screws. A number of solutions existed 10 to 15 years ago but many of those sources have dried

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Hardware

up. Vintage chain presented a whole new lesson for me. Detachable link chain made of malleable iron is another story entirely.

Since most of these implements predated the availability of modern day “steel,” the metal parts were almost exclusively cast iron. Cracked cast iron parts can, in most cases, be welded. Broken parts raise significant issues, depending on their specific function. Since speeds on these machines are relatively slow, many broken parts could be repaired. Later I got involved in replacement parts.

Graphics also became an issue, as many old implements had custom stenciling that is very difficult to replicate. On my first project, I actually made a stencil and spray-painted lettering through the stencil. I was less than totally pleased with the result. I began to use cut graphics for new projects but found it very difficult to replicate original fonts and shapes as they were made from one-of-a-kind stencils cut from thin sheets of brass. Graphics software provides great flexibility in this work.

parts cannot be obtained, I recreate them in the machine shop, as I did with the steel pins for the wooden knob John Deere No. 2 sheller.

on the No. 1 series hand cranks.

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8/6/18 12:20 PM

Time

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Traveler WAGONS, BUGGIES TRANSPORT IOWA COLLECTOR TO A DIFFERENT ERA

J

By Loretta Sorensen

ust one buggy ride with a friend in 1990 convinced J.R. Pearson that he needed to find his own horse and buggy so he could enjoy the experience of a leisurely drive at his own convenience.

1. A peddler’s wagon.

2. Another John Deere wagon in J.R.’s collection.

3. John Deere wagon (complete with spring seat) from the collection of J.R. Pearson.

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“It was so peaceful and quiet,” the northwest Iowa farmer remembers.

“We just went for about half a mile.

When we got back to my farm, I told my friend, ‘I have to have one of these.’ He told me he’d sell me that one.”

That’s how J.R. acquired his first horse-drawn vehicle, a John Deere Reliance buggy. In the following years, J.R.’s woodworking skills led him to build wagons for the horses he was buying.

After making a few vehicles of his own, he became interested in wagons he saw at auctions.

“The first wagon I bought was a John Deere,” he says. “I didn’t plan that, it just happened. It cost me $75. But since I started out with John Deere, I stayed with it until I had a whole series of John Deere wagons.”

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4. A Triumph Special wagon made by John Deere. After World War I, the John Deere Triumph was advertised as a “wagon that will meet the most popular requirements for a good wagon at a moderate price.” It was equipped with a 10-foot-6-inch double box. Spring seat and footboards were offered as options.

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J.R. has acquired 16 triple-box wagons made by a variety of companies and sold by Deere & Co. as early as 1881, including Old Hickory, Mitchell, Moline, Fish Bros., Wisconsin, Standard, Smith and Davenport.

His John Deere collection includes four triple-box wagons, an Ajax, Triumph, Triumph Special, regular John Deere and several 802s with flare boxes. Other pieces in his collection are from the Stoughton, Newton and Moline lines. J.R. also has a Standard Oil wagon he restored, as well as a dray wagon and peddler’s wagon.

“I have 35 spring seats with different wagon company names on them,” he says. “One is a Deere & Webber, which is pretty rare. I have John Deere wagons that range from the old triple boxes to the 802 and 953. I even have three John Deere flare boxes, which could someday be scarce.”

A peddler’s wagon is among his favorites. Decades ago, small-town storekeepers ordered their wares from salesmen who traveled the country in wagons. J.R. uses his wagon in show competition and carries a cultivator on it.

In building a collection, research is important. But when he’s buying wagons, J.R. doesn’t consider the history of a vehicle when he estimates its value. “I just look for good quality,” he says. “It’s always good if there’s some original paint on the wagon or the name on it somewhere. If it’s been kept inside and the wheels have been up on blocks so they’re out of the dirt, that usually means the wagon’s in pretty good shape.”

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8/6/18 12:23 PM

“The outgrowth of these efforts was the building of the engine which made the first noteworthy record as a Gasoline Traction. It was constructed at Froelich, Clayton County, Iowa, in July, 1892, with very meagre facilities for such work. So much confidence had he in the invention that he purchased the largest separator he could find and fitted up cooking and sleeping wagons and shipped the entire outfit to Langford, South Dakota, and followed it with a full crew of hands.

“For fifty days, it proved its efficiency in all kinds of weather, and in temperature ranging from 100 above to 3 below zero it threshed over 62,000 bushels of grain, nearly all wheat, without a single break or a moments delay of any kind.”

The brochure continues with an explanation of why this machine was better than steam engines. “A COMPARISON of the WATERLOO GASOLINE TRACTION ENGINE with steam traction engines will convince any one that it is in every way their superior. It requires no high-priced engineer to run it. It is the lightest traction engine built for the amount of power developed, as there is no boiler and just enough water used to keep up a circulation around the cylinder to keep it cool. It could be operated in your parlor without driving you out of doors for breath, or spoiling the carpet or curtains.”

“We beg leave to call to attention a few of the many advantages of our Gasoline Traction Engine over the oldfashioned, cumbersome and complicated steam engine,” the booklet also proclaimed. A sampling of the 19 benefits listed: “No possibility of explosion.” “No broken bridges on account of weight.” “No waiting for steam.”

“No running into holes or other obstructions, because the operator stands in front and has a full view of the road before him.” “No stopping of the engine when changing from separator to traction.”

During his lifetime, 1849-1933, John Froelich received scant recognition for this, his most important of numerous inventions, including at least 14 patents. Today, its significance in John Deere annals is much more widely recognized – because his crude outfit that went backward as well as forward spawned the formation of the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company.

That enterprise later became the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company, manufacturing Waterloo Boy engines and, in 1912, Waterloo Boy tractors. When Deere & Company purchased the plant in 1918, changing the name to John Deere Tractor Company, it was the beginning of a new era, both for the company and for American agriculture. FC The original “Froelich Tractor,” as pictured in the original brochure, delivered 16 horsepower from its single-cylinder Van Duzen 2,155-cubicinch (14-inch bore and stroke) engine. It provided speeds of 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 mph, both forward and reverse.

Weighing 9,000 pounds, it was only two-thirds as heavy as a steam engine of comparable power.

“In my estimation, the Gasoline Engine is a fine piece of machinery. It has great power and is very easily operated, and during the six days it was threshing for me there never was a time but what it was ready to do its work.

It would pull the large separator wherever it was wanted to go. I feel quite sure that in the near future it will be the threshing engine. It will set anywhere and work without the danger of fire.”

– John Christopher, Langford, S.D., Dec. 29, 1892.

(Photo above taken on another farm.)

At right: John Froelich, inventor of the gasoline traction engine.

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8/6/18 12:24 PM

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1. A colorful Syracuse trade card from the 1890s.

2. The cover of the 1895 Syracuse Plow Co. catalog.

3. A circa-1912 penny postcard showing a view of the Syracuse Chilled Plow Works.

4. A Syracuse trade card showing the factory and some of the firm’s products.

Joining

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Forces

HOW SYRACUSE CHILLED PLOW CO. CAME TO BE PART OF DEERE & CO.

T

By Sam Moore

he board of directors of Deere & Co., under the leadership of President William Butterworth, met on Jan. 6, 1910, and decided, among other things, to: “Find and bring into the orbit of the company several other agricultural machinery manufacturers ... which would then result in an organization closer to a ‘full line’ company.”

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Among those other manufacturers was the Syracuse (N.Y.) Chilled Plow Co. Deere had been selling a chilled plow for several years, but it was an “exact imitation of the Oliver,” as S.H. Velie Sr. (John Deere’s son-in-law and senior manager of Deere & Co.) admitted, and it didn’t sell well. The chilled iron plows made by the Syracuse firm, however, were ideal for the loose, gravelly soil of the Eastern states and were quite popular. At the turn of the century, Syracuse was doing about $1.25

million worth of business per year and earning about 15 percent profit.

The history of the Syracuse Chilled Plow Co. goes way back. In 1620, the same year the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, Robert Wiard was born in England. He married and, like so many of his countrymen looking for opportunity, came to the New World where he settled in Hartford County, Conn. He had a son and presumably farmed for a living, as most settlers did at the time.

Not much is known about the next two generations of the Wiard family, but they stayed put in Hartford County and, in 1769, Thomas Wiard was born.

The record says he married in about 1796, was made a freeman in 1802, and in about 1805 moved to a farm near East Avon in Livingston County, N.Y. Apparently Thomas Wiard was a tinkerer; he not only ran his farm but also found time to build wooden plows and experiment with cast iron construction. He fathered 12 children with two wives, and served as a justice of the peace and town supervisor.

Four of Thomas’ sons, William (born in 1798), Thomas (1805), Matthew (1813) and Henry (1815), became involved in manufacturing plows, and two very successful and well-known plow companies resulted. These plow companies were the Syracuse Chilled Plow Co. and the Wiard Plow Co., Batavia, N.Y. Since this story is about the Syracuse firm, we’ll forget about the other company for the time being.

The records are a little foggy on the details, but apparently Thomas’ third son, Matthew, developed a certain plow and sold a set of plow patterns to John S. Robinson, Canandaigua, N.Y., who seems to have moved to Syracuse where he established the Robinson Chilled Plow Co. in 1876. Another account says Harry Wiard, Thomas’ grandson, invented a process for chilling cast iron and that was the genesis of the Robinson firm. Although I can find no patents to back up the latter theory, it seems plausible, since Harry’s son, William Wolcott Wiard (who was born in 1865), was president of the Syracuse plow company when Deere bought the firm.

www.FarmCollector.com

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8/6/18 12:26 PM

The Bean Tractor

Left: John Deere’s Model “D” was well received by farmers, but could not compete with International Harvester’s row-crop tractors. The solution? Development of the “GP.” Later, the “GP” was tweaked into a unique application: the bean tractor.

MADE TO ORDER

Lower left: “GP” tractor with bean front axle, February 1931.

Below: A “GP” Standard. The “GP” was a perfect match for some, but not all, farmers ... hence the development of the bean tractor.

By Paul Ostrander

I

n the mid-1920s, the only tractor John Deere had to offer was the Model “D,” and it was well-accepted by farmers, so sales volumes were good. The Model “D” could pull tillage equipment as well as supply power on the belt. However, it was not nimble enough to be useful for planting or cultivating crops. It was obvious that a market existed for a tractor that could do those jobs, and in fact, International Harvester row-crop tractors outsold the “D” by a wide margin. Something had to be done immediately.

Jo c c L

Bel per ers

At that time, Theo Brown was John Deere’s chief engineer. He headed a group that was directed to design a tractor smaller than the Model “D.” It had to be capable of both planting and cultivating. The result of many hours of concentrated effort was the Allcrop, which became the Model “C,” and quickly evolved into the “GP” Standard.

At last John Deere had a row-crop tractor to compete with International Harvester. However, it was considerably different than other row-crop tractors as it was designed as a three-row system instead of the more common twoor four-row design. The front wheels were mounted on a wide, arched front axle. The front wheel tread was set at 44 inches, which was appropriate for the 42-inch rows used for planting 62

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corn. The rear wheel tread was set at 50 inches (center to center). When cultivating, the tractor straddled one row and cultivated one row on each side of the tractor. Integral implements were developed along with the tractor. The new tractor could provide four types of power: drawbar, belt, power take-off, and power lift.

While the new “GP” Standard was just what some farmers wanted, it did not suit everyone. Feedback regarding this tractor, and other topics, came back to Deere & Company through the dealer network. There is considerable evidence that the company was very responsive to demands from the field for development of products to meet specific needs. As an example, the Model “P” Tractor was a special design created

to meet the needs of potato farmers in Maine. Sometimes, though, special needs were met by providing options that could transform a “generic” production tractor into a special-purpose machine. That is how the “bean” tractor was born.

Feedback from the field revealed a demand for equipment to use on crops planted in rows spaced other than 42 inches wide. Deere & Company photographs from 1930 show experiments underway to adapt the “GP” for use in cultivating four 28-inch rows at a time. One method used front wheels with long hubs to widen the space between the wheels so the tractor could straddle two rows and cultivate one row on each side of the tractor. A front axle, extended in the center around the

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