page_title: Minneapolis-Moline
section_title: UDLX Comfortractor
hierarchical_section_title: Minneapolis-Moline / Tractors / UDLX Comfortractor
caption_attribution_description: 1938 Minneapolis Moline tractor, owned by a Saskatchewan resident in the era. Shot at local museum.
context_page_description: Minneapolis-Moline was a large tractor and farm and industrial machinery producer based in Hopkins, Minnesota. It was the product of a merger of three companies in 1929: Minneapolis Steel & Machinery which was noted for its Twin City tractors, Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company which also produced Minneapolis tractors, and Moline Plow Company. It had manufacturing facilities on Lake Street at Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis, MN, in Hopkins, MN and in Moline, IL.
context_section_description: Minneapolis-Moline pioneered the concept of the closed-cab farm tractor in 1938 by developing the UDLX Comfortractor (also known as the Model U Deluxe). The UDLX had flowing enclosing bodywork and a well appointed all-weather cabin, which contained a passenger seat, the idea being that the farmer and his wife would ride in comfort. Entry to the cabin was by a large rear door. The bodywork was painted in as the bright "Prairie-Gold" colour while the bumper and hubcabs were chromed. It was equipped with automotive features such as safety glass windscreen, windshield wipers, an electric starter and a dashboard with a speedometer, clock, sun visor, rear view mirror, plus several firsts in a tractor, including a heater, a cigarette lighter, ashtray, and a radio. 
  The 2.9 ton tractor was powered by a high compression Minneapolis-Moline four-cylinder 283 cu.in (4,637 cc) KED petrol engine which produced 46hp and drove a gearbox with five forward and one reverse gears which gave it a top speed of 40 mph.
  The model experienced poor sales due to its high cost of US$2,155 (1938)  (double that of a Farmall or Deere), . A general recession starting in 1938 also negatively impacted sales of this and most other durable goods.
  Only 125 of the UDLX were produced before production stopped in 1941. UDLX was part of one of Minneapolis-Moline's most popular series. The U series saw a number of variants, including the UTU, UTS, UTL, UDU, UDU, UOPL, UB, UTIL, and UT.
caption: 1938 Minneapolis-Moline UDLX tractor side view
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