Minnesota Machines
(Page 3 of 4)
January 2004
Bill Vossler
Enterprise Machine Co. listed both a Westman Model 40-45 and Model 20-22 tractor, though neither illustrations nor tractors have ever been uncovered to verify the firm built a tractor. Others that claimed active tractor production included the Guaranteed Tractor Co., M&M Tractor Co., and Midget Tractor Co. All these companies called Minneapolis home, along with a half-dozen other firms that failed.
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Odd-named oddballs
A number of Minnesota tractor companies gave their products unusual names or odd characteristics, such as the peculiar Tom Thumb Tractor Co.'s Tom Thumb tractor. It looked like a full-length tractor cut in half. Mayer Brothers' Little Giant, and Humber-Anderson Manufacturing Co.'s Little Oak tractor also stand out among the unusual names.
Short-Turn Tractor Co.'s Short Turn tractor - a drum-type machine touted for its sharp turns - sported an interesting name as well. The first Short Turns were produced in 1916, and a factory was built to manufacture them in Bemidji, Minn., in 1918. Two years later, the company and tractor disappeared, probably as a result of the Agricultural Depression of the early 1920s.
The oddest-looking tractor award might go to the Victor tractor, which looked like a washing-machine drum turned sideways. Made by the Victor Tractor Co. and sold for $1,685, this company shouldn't be confused with the Victory Tractor Co., also of Minneapolis.
Flimflam and fakery
Minnesota's vast number of tractor companies created a tooth-and-nail competition among firms, which produced some deceiving sales tactics. The most offensive firm may've been the Ford Tractor Co. of Minneapolis -which had no association with Ford Motor Co., except in name. It was so-named by the owners to sell tractors on the coattails of the well-known automaker.
In fact, Ford Tractor Co. went so far as to pluck a man off the street with the last name of Ford - Carl B. Ford, sometimes cited as Paul B. Ford - in order to legitimize the 'Ford' name. In the process, the tractor company swindled hundreds of people who purchased 'Ford' tractors for later delivery.
In 1915, the Lion Tractor Co. was prohibited by court order from producing Lion tractors ('... strong as a lion, made of steel, sensation of the world, never tired, never hungry, never sick ...,') because, the com plaint read, Lion misled buyers to believe they were buying a tractor made by P.J. Lyons of the Bull Tractor Co. A portion of the Lion's design also was borrowed from the Little Bull Tractor Co.
The Lion Tractor Co. took payments from many farmers but never delivered tractors, and also claimed it manufactured hundreds of tractors, when in reality only three were produced. The company flouted the court ruling and continued to make Lion tractors even after an injunction.