January 2007
Bill Vossler
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A side view of the Thieman and its Ford Model A engine.
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Thieman tractor was an unbeatable deal for cash-strapped farmers
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Bill Thelemann and his father, LeRoy, were dismayed when a truck pulled up at their Le Sueur, Minn., farm in the early 1980s and dropped off a Thieman tractor. At least it was supposed to be a Thieman tractor.
'That was kind of a funny deal,' Bill says. 'Dad answered an ad for the Thieman, and the tractor was supposedly ready to go. But when we got it, we found that it was a basket case. It was a disaster. You should have seen the look on my dad's face. It was not quite what he figured on. It was just a bunch of parts. The engine was out of it, and everything else was all in pieces.'
In the end, the tale was more than a little ironic. The Thieman tractor, manufactured by the Thieman Harvester Co. in Albert City, Iowa, from 1936-1942 or so, originally came in pieces as a kit, to be assembled by the buyer, who had to provide an engine, driveshaft and rear axle. Bingo! New tractor!
Thieman Harvester Co.
The Albert City company was organized in 1921 by brothers Henry D., William B., Herman, Charles and Warren Thieman, to make ensilage harvesters. Eventually they produced livestock feeders and waterers, end gates, plow guides, saw frames and power units, as well as steel burial vaults.
Beginning in 1936, Thieman tractors were offered in varied types: $185 kits, like the Thelemann tractor; or a complete tractor with a Ford Model A engine for about $500. With the kit, the farmer had to procure his own engine, driveshaft and rear end from a Ford Model A, 1928 Chevrolet or Dodge Four, and then build a tractor. The object was to cobble together pieces of used equipment to make an inexpensive tractor.
More Than a CollectibleFirst Holm Thieman was a working tractorNorby Holm, rural Sauk Centre, Minn., says his father, Gordon, who died in 2004, would be very pleased to know that his Thieman tractor was going to be mentioned in a magazine. 'It was his pride and joy,' Norby says. The red Thieman tractor the family keeps in Gordon's memory was not their only Thieman, however. Gordon got his first Thieman, a very early model with steel wheels and open chain case, in the 1950s. Originally a kit, it came to the Holms with a Model A engine; people thought it was a 1935 model. The tractor was destroyed by a tornado that hit the farm in the 1950s. Gordon bought the second Thieman in 1978 from a neighbor who was the original buyer. The gas tank needed attention (gasoline had been left in it for years), and the carburetor also needed an overhaul. 'I went through it and sandblasted and painted it, threw in a battery and it ran like a top,' Norby says. 'It still does.' The tractor has the blue Ford emblem on the front. Gordon recorded information on the second Thieman, including a historical footnote dating to the 1930s. In his records, he recalled that sleeping sickness had killed many horses in central Minnesota during the mid-1930s, when he was 10 years old. The Thieman tractor was a welcome and cheap alternative to buying new horses or an expensive tractor. Though the Holm Thieman tractor is used just for show today, the first one was put to work on the farm, recalls Norby's mother, Betty. Norby says none of them realized how small the Thieman was until the day Gordon drove it in a Sauk Centre parade, and it was dwarfed by a large 3-wheel Terragator chemical applicator following behind. Norby treats the Thieman with respect: Its front end is so light that it's prone to backflips. And that's not all. 'When I was painting it in the garage, I had it running, and the shaft on the side of the tractor was turning. As I walked by, it grabbed my shirt,' he says. 'I hung onto the windowsill with my fingernails until it tore the shirt off my back.' Still, the Thieman remains a favorite around the Holm household. 'When my dad drove it in a parade, he was so happy all you would see was his teeth,' Norby recalls. 'That tractor was his pride and joy. Nobody else had one like it.' |
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