Rumely Oil Pull Tractor, 20-40
date: label: date made
content: 1923
name: label: maker
content: Advance Rumely Company
label: assembler
content: Miller, Ronald E.
notes: label: Description
content: In 1923, John Ploesch purchased this Rumely Oil Pull tractor for $4,000 from an Advance-Rumely dealer in Woodbine, Illinois. He arranged with neighbors to thresh their crops, organizing what was called a threshing ring that lasted until 1948. The Rumely Oil Pull was belted to the threshing machine that separated the grain. Threshing became a major social event for farmers, laborers, and their families.
label: Description
content: The Rumely Oil Pull was the first tractor to use an oil cooling system, which kept the engine at a steady temperature no matter how heavy the tractor's load. The cooling system allowed hotter cylinders and easier ignition. The Oil Pull starts on gas but runs on kerosene, making it much lighter and easier to maneuver than its steam-driven predecessors. This Rumely Oil Pull weighs seven tons.
label: Description
content: Rumely engineers also made space for an extra person in the tractor's cab, gave the operator a clear view in every direction, and placed all the mechanisms--gear shift, clutch, foot brake, steering wheel, carburetor, and more--in easy reach. These new design elements helped the Rumely Oil Pull to surpass most old kerosene tractors, and many of these features were further refined in gasoline-powered machines.
label: Description
content: Because of their hot-riveted steel frame construction, Rumely Oil Pulls lasted through years of harvests. Some were still in use as late as the 1960s.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Indiana, LaPorte
label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Geneseo
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
label: See more items in
content: Agriculture
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Wayman Cobine
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1988.0372.01
label: catalog number
content: 1988.0372.01
label: accession number
content: 1988.0372
objectType: label: Object Name
content: tractor, rumely oil-pull, model g, 20-40hp
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: green (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: red (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: yellow (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 108 in x 89 in x 175 in; 274.32 cm x 226.06 cm x 444.5 cm