My Minneapolis Moline

[RCW]

I’ve posted about my 1953 Minneapolis Moline ZAU in several threads over the years. Scattered all around OTT.

Was a tractor I grew up with. Been in the family since late 1950’s. It’s 32 engine HP, 231 cu.in. 4-cylinder gas. I think dry weight without loader is about 4,000 lbs, so maybe 6-6,500 as it sits.

Came to my house from my parent’s place a couple years ago.

Although it runs well, it’s a machine that needs some TLC.

I’ll try to keep everything here. Lot of folks have no interest in old farm tractors, but some do.

 

[RCW]

In other threads I’ve talked about water in the gas, and verified the gasoline tank is in good shape.

Got everything running well again as of today. Thank goodness…

A thing that is cobbled is the governor rod between the carburetor and governor.

While the tractor was at my Dad’s he complained it wouldn’t idle properly.

I ended up replacing the governor and building an adjustable governor rod to make things better. It has worked, and is on it today. I couldn’t fabricate a finicky part from 40 miles.

Governor rods need to be exact in 3 planes. Very exacting, but far from rocket science.

It has worked, but now I want to make a permanent solution. Adjustable one is too heavy.

My Dad had the carburetor rebuilt 40 years ago. Something about that made the connection about 1/4” shorter than stock…

Stock is right. My first stab at it several years ago and adjusted it more today.

 

[GeoHorn]

I have ”soft-spot” for MMs….my Grandfather-in-Law was the MM dealer in Bay City, Tx from WW2 until MM ceased ops.

 

[RCW]

I have ”soft-spot” for MMs….my Grandfather-in-Law was the MM dealer in Bay City, Tx from WW2 until MM ceased ops.

The 40-50's versions were quite uncommon in the northeast. More common in the midwest and central Canada. Not surprising given their manufacture in Minneapolis, MN.

They were later merged with/acquired by Oliver, and a couple other changes in the -60's. More of those around northeast.

Ultimately ended up as part of AGCO, which is White, Massey Ferguson, and a whole bunch of other legacy name brands.

 

[70Beee]

My dad bought his 445 with the loader new in the 50’s. He first bought a 335 but soon learned it wasn’t up to the task and stepped up to the 445. I spent a lot of hours cleaning out the barns and feed lots on the 445 and learned to respect its durability and design. Loved the sound of it as well.

 

[bird dogger]

The 40-50's versions were quite uncommon in the northeast. More common in the midwest and central Canada. Not surprising given their manufacture in Minneapolis, MN.

They were later merged with/acquired by Oliver, and a couple other changes in the -60's. More of those around northeast.

Ultimately ended up as part of AGCO, which is White, Massey Ferguson, and a whole bunch of other legacy name brands.

Wish I had pics to share of our old 'Moline "U". That was one of the tractors I grew up on. It only had a hand lever clutch which allowed us kids to operated it before our legs were long enough/strong enough to run the other tractors. The Molines were quite common around this area.....being less than 300 miles from the factory.

Ours had a wide front (row crop tractor) and without power steering.....hitting a gopher/badger hole with one of the front wheels was detrimenal to the health of your thumbs if you had them wrapped around the inside of the steering wheel!!! It only took one sprained thumb to teach you to keep your thumbs to the outside and with a good grip on the wheel!! Good memories....???

 

[BAP]

Nice pictures of a great looking tractor. In New England, MM tractors and equipment was almost non existent. Oliver later on had a presence, but small compared to JD, IH and Case. RCW, I enjoy your pictures and talks about your tractor as I have several antique tractors from the late 20’s to the late 40’s. Still use my Farmall H for my Maple Sugaring and moving trailers around the yard

 

[RCW]

Have the old timer running for a while today. Running good.

Haven’t gotten anywhere yet with plug wires, governor rod, hoses, etc. Spent some time yesterday trying to find the parts diagrams again.

 

[D2Cat]

What is the number? Ends .......280?

 

[RCW]

What is the number? Ends .......280?

I think it’s 10 A 280. Wanted to take a wire wheel to it to read better.

That’s the cover for the frame casting on the tunnel between the engine and rear end.

Not sure it’s of any importance, but liked that it was “MM Made in the USA”….

When Dad had it repainted 30-40 years ago, the tractor’s serial number tag was lost….

Dad always called it a 1953. Not that it’s important, but some sources say ZA were done in 1952. Kind of like GM small blocks, a lot of stuff is interchangeable over many years.

 

[Tughill Tom]

deleted

 

[Tughill Tom]

deleted

Bring it on up here!

 

[D2Cat]

https://www.facebook.com/FARMSHOWMagazine?__cft__[0]=AZUcDgpH3UsKckXbmpSRJKPGxZ3QjWhzxoJZz6hFe87zSIpcqaWvtH6uXZSf1re0oypwdu7ay8R5J-QThEt48_o6Gsm3IaBQPIic6G8vKJG_oSWbkqK21K8wuvxc5evurrnPjrjHTQ0kPoDa1foh0FL8JP6LY3NlSzeuqelYh9M-FlPnC1Fd7Iz-9-tTtDIZJbpKPpNZrOdfd5TCM-hWRDzU&__tn__=%3C*F
FARM SHOW Magazine
5d ·

Original “Stuttgart Special” Lives On In Arkansas

In the 1950’s, Don Oliver owned the largest Minneapolis Moline equipment dealership in the country, located in the small town of Stuttgart, Ark. The thriving business sold MM equipment across a large area. Oliver knew that farmers were interested in more power to work their fields, so he, along with his sales manager and shop foreman, built a 4-WD tractor they called the Stuttgart Special.

Don’s son, Gary, was a teenager at the time and remembers the project well. He says they used the transmission out of a Minneapolis Moline Five Star tractor, the rear end out of a Moline M5, and a two-speed dropbox that Caterpillar made. Power was supplied by a MM 605A engine running on propane. The operator station sat high between the wheels.

Read the full story: https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=37990
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[RCW]

No wonder dad complained about it not idling properly.

Something is funky with the clearances of carburetor, thus I made an adjustable one. Dad had the carburetor rebuilt years ago and I think something might have gone astray back then.

I also replaced the governor a couple years ago, but seemed exactly like the old one.

Here’s an OEM governor linkage and one I made that seems real close to working properly.

Need to be able to raise and drop throttle through its full motion freely without binding.

Very finicky connection. Probably adjusted it 10+ times in last couple hours.

 

[Ktrim]

Farmall guy myself but really nice looking piece of old iron.

 

[RCW]

In spite of my efforts to fix it, the Moline went back into its summer parking space under its own power.

Probably tinkered with/adjusted that homemade job governor link another 10-15 times.

Running good, and the new governor rod allows better throttle response. Will keep an eye on the linkage for binding, etc. It did bind up a couple times during testing this morning.

Geddy helped through the entire process….