The M. Rumely Co. practically elevated this advertisement to Biblical proportions with verses from its Toiling and Tilling the Soil, a free company promotion. ‘I bring the dumb beast rest. I bring to the toiler his daily loaf … I am today’s beast of burden. I am the hope of food and life for tomorrow’s millions.’
For all intents and purposes, however, Rumely farm equipment was the hope of food and life for tomorrow’s millions in the early 20th century.
In 1853, German immigrant Meinrad Rumely brought his revolutionary new ideas to LaPorte, Ind., where he manufactured threshing machines and steam engines. But it was Meinrad’s OilPull tractor, first produced in 1910, that catapulted the firm into world-famous stature.
Just as steam replaced the horse, the oil-burning tractor replaced the steam engine. The well-received Rumely line made it possible for farmers to enjoy unprecedented levels of efficiency and farm power, literally helping to change life for the small farmer.
On Dec. 14, 1915, M. Rumely Co. incorporated into Advance-Rumely Thresher Co., but the new firm successfully continued to produce farm machinery that straddled the spectrum of tractors, engines and implements. The OilPull, however, was the firm’s bread and butter. In all, 56,647 OilPulls were sold around the world in 14 different models before the company folded in 1938.
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