Mothballed Moldboards

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Mike's oldest plow is likely the Moline No. 3. The non-adjustable plow was forged from a single piece of steel. The painted logo on the plow's wooden beam isn't the Flying Dutchman, while the beam is solid oak rather than forged steel. These combined characteristics suggest a pre-1900 manufacture date, and the plow was certainly manufactured before the Moline Plow Co. name was changed to the Moline Implement Co. in the 1920s. The finish on the oak handles and beam, in addition to the paint, is excellent, shows no wear and leaves no doubt about the model and manufacturer.

About the time Mike's Madison Plow Co. Turf and Stubble plow was delivered to Roeseler's, the Moline Plow Co. purchased the Universal Tractor Co. in Ohio, and became known as the Moline Implement Co. While the Madison Plow Co. produced and sold plows through its owner, Fuller and Johnson (of gasoline engine fame), as early as 1882, the Turf and Stubble plow wasn't likely marketed until the 1920s after Fuller and Johnson sold the plow making enterprise. Although cracked and dry, the original paint striping and decal is still visible on Mike's Turf and Stubble plow. Two shipping tags attached to the plow indicate that Yellow Freight Lines shipped it to August E. Roeseler Jr. but dates are unfortunately missing from the tags.

By the time Mike's McCormick-Deering WE-1 plow was shipped to Roeseler's hardware - most likely in the 1930s - the Moline Implement Co. had merged with the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co. and Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Co. to form Minneapolis-Moline Power Implement Co. With its heritage steeped in the legendary quality of Parlin and Orendorff, whose implement plant in Canton, Ill., later became International Harvester's Canton Works, the McCormick-Deering WE-1 plow - which debuted in 1929 - was among the last walking plows introduced by IH. Mike's WE-1 plow, like the others, was in excellent shape, and it still had its wrench attached, which made the fully adjustable plow truly complete.

Unlike Mike's three plows, and Roeseler's Hardware where they were sold, the companies that manufactured the plows didn't survive the 20th century intact. These three examples of wonderfully preserved plows are windows which give a glimpse of those days when agricultural implement manufacturers were booming ... right down to the color of the paint and the finish of the wood. FC

The Moline Plow Co.

1865 Partnership between Henry W. Candee and Robert Kerr Swan, known as Candee, Swan and Co., forms to manufacture rakes and fanning mills in Moline, III.

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