Prairie City, Iowa 50228
Price and Leo Brubaker of Prairie City, Iowa and Doyle Brubaker
of Newton, Iowa began operating Rumely Oil Pulls at the age of 12
or 13. Our father, Earl, was a dealer for Advance Rumely Company,
and when he traded for an Oil Pull it was our job to clean and
paint it for resale. Earl had a contract with Jasper County, Iowa
three boys to do after school and on Saturdays. Our high school
vacations were spent operating Oil Pulls, threshing and grading
township roads in Jasper County.
In 1936, we entered into the farm equipment business with our
father, who had an Allis Chalmers and New Idea contract at this
time. This business was known as E. M. Brubaker and Sons, selling
and servicing farm equipment from 1936 until 1971. While in this
business, shortly after World War II, we came up with the idea of
each one trying to obtain a different model heavy weight Rumely Oil
Pull tractor, hoping some day to have the full line. At the 1978
Old Threshers Show, we displayed six of these tractors:
A 1917 Model E, 30-60, two cylinder, 10′ bore and 12′
stroke. This tractor weighs 26,000 pounds and was built to pull an
8 to 12 bottom plow. This tractor was purchased by Price Brubaker
in Minnesota, where it had been used on a saw mill and threshing
machine.
A 1915 Model F, 15-30, one cylinder, 10′ bore and 12′
stroke, weighing 10 tons, pulls a 4 to 6 bottom plow. This tractor
was purchased by Earl Brubaker in 1921 at a sheriff foreclosure
sale in Chapel, Nebraska. He drove it 50 miles to Haxton, Colorado
where he used it to pull a threshing machine. He shipped it to Des
Moines, Iowa in 1923, rebuilt the tractor and graded roads in
Poweshiek Township in Jasper County for several years.
A 1921 Model G, 20-40, two cylinder, 8′ bore and 10′
stroke, weighs 6 tons and pulls 4 bottoms. This tractor was bought
at Emporia, Kansas and had been used for farming. Present owner is
Doyle Brubaker.
A 1918 Model H, 16-30, two cylinder, 7′ bore and 8′
stroke, weight 9,600 pounds. Sold new by Earl Brubaker in 1918 to a
threshing company southeast of Prairie City, Iowa. Present owner is
Price Brubaker.
A 1916 Model H, 14-28, two cylinder, 7′ bore and 8′
stroke, weighing 9,600 pounds and pulls 3 to 4 bottom plow. Bought
in North Dakota in a basket by Doyle Brubaker, present owner.
A 1921 Model K, 12-20, two cylinder, 6′ bore and 8′
stroke, weighs 4,500 pounds and pulls 3 bottom plow. Bought in
Wisconsin where it had been used to pull a corn sheller. Owner is
Leo Brubaker.
We are still searching for a Model B to complete this heavy
weight collection.
One of the questions most often asked is: ‘Why are they
called Oil Pulls?’ The answer to this is; they use oil in the
radiator instead of water for cooling. The oil pull cooling system
automatically keeps the motor at the right temperature at all
loads, warm for light loads, increasingly cooler for half load up
to full load. The harder the oil pull works the cooler it runs.
This is the main reason they were so successful as a kerosene
burning tractor.
Dad Brubaker did tell many stories, one after another, about
Rumely Oil Pulls. I’ll try to tell a couple as I remember them.
While dad was working as a serviceman for Rumely, he and another
company man were sent to unload a new 30-60 from a railroad flat
car. There was no dock, so dad and the man, who had bought the
tractor, went to find railroad ties to build a ramp. While they
were gone, the other company man, getting impatient, started the
tractor to move it down to the end of the car. Unfortunately, the
clutch stuck and backed it off the end of the car. Fortunately
there was no damage to the tractor.
Another story is about the time dad drove the 15-30 ten-ton, one
cylinder Oil Pull across the Platte River Bridge. The man helping
would not ride on the tractor, but walked along behind. This fellow
says some of the piling went down three inches and never came back
up.
We expect to exhibit some of our Rumely Oil Pulls at the Mt.
Pleasant shows in the future, and would be happy to hear from
others who are interested in Oil Pulls.
