Last May, my brother, John Werner, planted corn with a 1950
Minneapolis-Moline ZA tractor pulling a Minneapolis-Moline Model
PWZ 4-row check-planter. Using the five-decade old equipment he
planted three acres, and enjoyed the experience. Our dad, Arnold
Werner, stopped by to watch; he owned a planter just like this one
many years ago. “I owned the first 4-row corn planter around here,”
in about 1953.” He bought the planter from Werner Implement in
Vermillion, Minn.; that company, which began operation in 1948, is
still in business today.
I bought this planter a year ago off eBay. It came from
Hartland, Minn., not far from Albert Lea. It is the first one I’ve
ever come across. The planter manual is dated 1955, so the planter
must date to the mid-1950s. We just hooked it up and put it to
work: It was nicely preserved for something that is 50 years old. A
little grease was all it needed.
A marker arm is connected on each side of the tractor. A rope
goes through a pulley on the front of the tractor and hooks to each
marker. They leave marks in the dirt for the tractor to follow as
corn is planted. The planter is set up for check planting but I
need to find some check wire.
Mike Werner
20445 Donnelly Ave.
Farmington, MN 55024
e-mail: deereminnnieacres@cvtel.net
