Slipping Through the Cracks of History
(Page 3 of 3)
Have followed tractor closely for two weeks. Conditions extremely hard and rough. Absolutely no weakness in construction. Gears, chains, universals, in fact all parts in good condition. Tractor has traveled nearly five hundred miles under extreme load. Change speed gear a wonder. I recommend to the board that we build ten machines at once.
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Dain's recommendation was successful. Ten tractors were sent to Deere & Co. branch houses and subsequently tested with positive results. C.C. Webber, a company vice president and director, wrote that, 'Dealers could sell the [Dain] as a three-plow outfit for $1,500.'
Then, on Nov. 19, 1917, John Deere's executive committee - headed by Willard Velie - ordered 100 Dain tractors to be manufactured at the East Moline, Ill., John Deere Harvester Works for sale the following year. The price tag was $1,200 for each of the 100 four-cylinder, 24-belt-hp, 4,600-pound tractors. All eventually were transported to a dealership in Huron, S.D.
Unfortunately, Dain died of pneumonia on Halloween 1917 after spending a wet, cold week field-testing the tractor, just before the Dain's production began. Even as the first 100 Dain tractors were built, Deere & Co. bought the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co., which manufactured both stationary engines and tractors. Deere & Co. suddenly had no reason to continue developing the Dain, and quickly fell in love with the Waterloo Boy kerosene-burning tractor, which was more affordable, equally advanced and already successfully in production.
Velie, who was in charge of overseeing Dain's tractor experiments, was furious. He accused the board of directors of bypassing his executive committee on important matters and resigned his chairman's post.
Dain's tractor legacy was almost forgotten in time, but thanks to Frank Hansen's efforts to save a tractor almost lost to history, one restored All-Wheel-Drive Dain tractor still remains for all to see to this day. FC
- To learn more about the Dain tractor, contact the Collectors Center at 320 16th St., Moline, IL 61265; (800) 240-5265. Collectors Center photos courtesy of John Gerstner and www.greencollectors.com
Useful John Deere Dain tractor Web sites and resources:
The John Deere Tractor Legacy, by Don Macmillan (Farm Collector Books) 'Genius is as Genius does,' John Deere TRADITION, February and March 2002 'The Tractor Lost to Time,' John Deere TRADITION, June 2003 www.deere.com/en_US/compinfo/johndeere_collectorscenter/index.html www.greencollectors.com
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