The Moline Universal D tractor is still celebrating its century-mark, and the Moline folks are planning a huge birthday party Sept. 13-15 at the Antique Engine and Tractor Assoc. (AETA) 58th Annual Working Farm show. Besides the Universal reunion, the featured brand will be Case tractors and equipment. While there have been many Minneapolis-Moline shows, collector and show organizer Loren Book pointed out this is a Moline Plow Co. (MPCo) only show. "Our Minneapolis-Moline committee and the folks at the Antique Engine and Tractor Association are looking forward to the largest display of MPCo products in over 100 years,” he enthused. He said the location of the show in Joslin, Ill., takes on a special importance because “the show grounds are only 20 miles from the former factory, which was located in Rock Island, Illinois, where the Universal tractors were produced.” MPCo organizers are working with the Rock Island Historical Society and hope to possibly offer a bus trip to see sites related to the company. This is a working farm show, so visitors will be able to view Universal Moline tractors, plows, and implements in the field. In fact, Loren said visitors will even get to see a Flying Dutchman plow – one of the implements that began the MPCo story – in action. He was busy painting the plow in late December right before Christmas, in fact. “The Moline Plow company produced the Universal D and when they started, they started making plows called the Flying Dutchman,” he explained. “The plow was patented in 1884 and these plows became synonymous with the company.” An early flier for The Flying Dutchman plow states, in part: “The appearance of this plow in any farming community was an omen of dire misfortune to any other sulky plow, for none could encounter the Flying Dutchman without being plowed under.” The MPCo itself hails all the way back to 1852. Henry Candee and Robert Swan began the company when they started building fanning mills in Moline, Ill. The mills progressed to implements then to plows. The company name changed over the years from the Candee, Swan Co. to MPCo. Eventually the men purchased the Universal Tractor Manufacturing Co. when they became interested in tractors. The Universal came about in 1915 and Loren said this two-cylinder horizontal tractor was adjusted for horses. In 1916, the company built a factory in Rock Island to manufacture the new Moline Universal D, which had a four-cylinder engine. The first one rolled out in 1918. The factory was eventually sold to International Harvester and production stopped in 1923. MPCo became part of the Minneapolis Power Implement Co., and the rest is agricultural history. At the close of 2018, show organizers had indications that approximately 30 Universal Moline tractors will be at the show. Organizers hope to have 100 in attendance, along with a strong presence of implements. They encourage collectors to bring their Moline items to the show, and to learn more by contacting Loren at 515-231-6334 or lgbook46@gmail.com The 58th annual AETA show will be held at the clubs grounds at Joslin, 10 minutes from scenic Geneseo and 15 minutes from the historic Quad Cities metro area of Moline, East Moline, Rock Island, Silvis, Davenport, and Bettendorf, just east of where Interstate 80 crosses the Mississippi River and minutes from Interstate 88. This is also only 20 miles from where the Universal was built, at what would later become the Rock Island Farmall Works, and 19 miles from the headquarters and implement factory. More information is available at http://molineplowco.com and http://ae-ta.com/events/jb-icon-calendar-jb-icon-calendar-58th-annual-antique-tractor-show Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
