Mr. and Mrs. John Heider from central Illinois stopped by recently and asked if we happened to have a Heider tractor in our museum. They previously had thee Heider tractors, along with a number of other brands in their personal collection. John was very knowledgeable about Heider, and was impressed that the one in our collection had the fringe around the canopy and appears to have the original canopy roof. They happened to have the same last name as the founders of Heider Manufacturing, but were not related.

The Heider Manufacturing Company was formed by Henry J. Heider and his brother, John, after Henry's business of manufacturing four-horse eveners outgrew his ability to manufacture eveners and run his farm. They moved from Albert Lea, Minnesota to Caroll, Iowa as the business expanded, and incorporated the company to finance the new concrete block factory in Caroll in 1904. They continued to manufacture four and six-horse eveners, yokes, double and single trees.

Henry became interested in tractors around 1907, and developed a prototype similar to the Moline Universal Tractor. In 1910 they decided to go with a four-wheel design for tractor with a friction drive. Twenty-five Heider model A's were made between March, 1911 and 1912. The Heider B was introduced in 1912, switching to the model C in 1915.

The model B was rated at 10 hp on the drawbar, and 20 on the belt.

The early model C 12-20 was produced from 1916 to 1924, and was rated at 9 hp drawbar and 16 belt. It was powered by a 429 ci (7.0L) Waukesha 4-cylinder engine, with a 4.5 inch bore and 6.75 inch stroke.

The Heider C 15-27 was manufactured from 1924-1927, and had 15 drawbar and 27 belt horsepower. It was powered by a Waukesha 4-cylinder engine with a 4.75 inch bore and 6.75 inch stroke.

The Heider tractors used a friction drive system with a wood fiber drive surface on the engine flywheel which drove one of two cast discs set at a right angle to the flywheel. Engaging the flywheel with one side drove the tractor forward, and moving the cast discs to the other direction engaged the opposite side disc and drove the tractor in reverse. The system gave seven speeds of both forward or reverse by sliding the entire engine forward or backward with a notched lever to engage different portions of the cast drive discs.

Henry Heider was also given patents for a mechanical plow lift in 1917. The lift consisted of a ratchet gear assembly driven from the rear tractor wheels. Pressing a pedal engaged a clutch on the rear axle drive to cause a lift arm to lift the tractor mounted plow out of the ground. Pressing the pedal a second time dropped the plow back into plowing position.

The Heiders sold the tractor portion of the manufacturing business to The Rock Island Plow Company in 1916 because the popularity of the Heider C required a manufacturing facility with more capacity. Tractor manufacturing was moved to Rock Island Illinois. Henry Heider's engineering services were retained by Rock Island until 1922.

Heider manufacturing continued to make wooden products of its pre-tractor business and later made wagons and auger wagons. Henry also held a patent for a coaster wagon. In 1983 the business was sold to the Welllbuilt Company of Scranton, Iowa.

For more information on the Heider company, visit:  http://heidertractors.com/

The Moline Universal Model D Tractor

 

The Minneapolis-Moline Company was formed by the 1929 merger of the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company, the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, and the Moline Plow Company.  You will find tractors in our museum built by all three of these companies prior to the merger, including a Moline Universal Model D.

Moline Plow Company of Moline, IL purchased the Universal Tractor Company of Columbus, OH in 1915.  Prior to that, the MPC had been building plows which were designed for and sold with the Universal 10-12 motor cultivator.  MPC produced  models B & C, which used a two-cylinder opposed engine.  The model D featured a 4-cylinder engine with pressure lubrication and electric start and had one headlight and one implement light.  A number of implements from sickle mowers to plows and discs could be mounted directly on the tractor, or other implements could be towed behind the tractor using the carrying cart and hitch. Universal tractors had the engine in the front powering the front wheels.  

The D did not have rear wheels of its own, but relied on the implement or carrying cart to provide the rear wheels.  Steering was done by an articulating pivot point behind the engine & front wheel section.  The tractor had a long wheel base, resulting in a large turning radius.  The transmission had one forward and one reverse gear. 

This video has more information on the Moline Universal Tractors

Our 22nd Season

 

We start our 2021 season with the addition of a Case DO orchard tractor. Orchard tractors are more commonly found in the orchards and vineyards of California than in Minnesota. 

The Case D series was manufactured from 1939-1954.  It is rated at 31 HP drawbar, and 35 HP PTO.  A total of 14,396 Model D were built in one of four versions:

 Standard Tread - D

Row Crop - DC

Industrial - DI

Orchard - DO

The museum entrance is through  the tractor parts sales area at the west end of the museum building, inside the security fence. 

Museum hours are:
Monday-Friday: 9 am to 4 pm
Saturday: 9 am to noon. 

If you have questions about the museum, or making a reservation for your group, please give us a call at 320-235-4341 or 800-537-5582.

1922 Minneapolis 35-70

The Minneapolis 35-70 was built by the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company in Hopkins, Minnesota from 1920-1929.  It is powered by a 1486 cubic inch 4-cylinder engine fueled with kerosene.  It developed a maximum belt horsepower of 74.0 and drawbar horsepower of 52.55 in the Nebraska tests done from May 21 to June 4, 1920.  The engine has a 7.25” bore and 9” stroke and was rated at 550 rpm.  The transmission has two forward gears at 2.0 and 2.5 mph, and one reverse at 1.7 mph.  The tractor is 17’-2” long, 9’ wide, 10’-2” high, and weighs 22,500 pounds.  It is rated to pull a 6-10 bottom plow, depending on soil conditions.

The 35-70 was built in an era when the larger tractors were built using internal combustion engines on a frame similar to those used on steam traction engines.  These tractors were used to pull implements or to provide stationary power for threshing machines and feed mills.  The large tractors such as this were expensive to buy and cumbersome to drive and not well suited for smaller farms.  Many manufacturers began making smaller, less expensive tractors better suited for smaller farms, and the sales of the larger ones dwindled.  Because of the amount of steel in them, many of these tractors as well as many steam traction engines were scrapped during World War II so the steel could be recycled to help the war effort.

In 1929 the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company, and Moline Plow Works merged to become the Minneapolis-Moline.  The new company had its headquarters in Hopkins, with plants in Hopkins, Minneapolis at Hiawatha Avenue & Lake Street, and in Moline, Illinois. 

Minneapolis-Moline acquired the Avery farm machine company in 1951, and was then acquired by The White Motor Company in 1963.

Here are links to an article and video on the 35-70:
https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4106588-renovation-13-ton-100-year-old-tractor-team-effort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6M8I79NLXI


The operator's platform on this tractor is large enough to accommodate two people, but  has no seat.  Below are some photos taken from the operator's platform.  Notice the exposed push rods and rocker arms on the engine, as well as the height of the platform compared to other tractors in the museum.

Our 20th Season

It has been 20 years since Virgil Schwanke opened the museum to the public to share his collection of tractors, trucks, and cars.

We are busy preparing the museum for the 2019 season, which begins Saturday, May 18.

The museum entrance has moved to the tractor parts sales area at the west end of the museum building, inside the security fence. 

Museum hours are:
Monday-Friday: 9 am to 4 pm
Saturday: 9 am to noon. 

If you have questions about the museum, or making a reservation for your group, please give us a call at 320-235-4341 or 800-537-5582.


  

Welcome

Welcome Friends.
Today I am just going to introduce the Museum to you with just a little history.
The Schwanke Museum first opened it's doors to the public in 1999 at the time the collection was not as big as it is now, but it still was impressive. Today the museum host over 200 tractors, over a hundred different Car, Trucks, Large and Small Gas and Diesel engines.

 Virgil Schwanke bought his first car at the ripe age of 15. A 1926 Ford model T coupe which is featured as you walk into the main part of the museum. On this blog I will try to feature one car, tractor, or truck per week. I will also try to give a brief history of how the museum acquired the vehicle if I can but I will give a history of the car just so you know what it is, where it was made, and if we restored the vehicle.

If you have any questions I would love to try and help answer any that you may have.
You will have to forgive my photographic skills I don't have a camera so I use my cell phone camera.

Thank you.

In memory of Virgil Schwanke

Schwanke Museum founder Virgil Schwanke passed away May 14, 2017.  We want to honor his memory by sharing his life information.  His desire to preserve the cars and trucks of the past will be shared with future generations.

The Schwanke Museum is now starting its 20th season.