Donna Zimmer shares her perspective on the real value restoration projects bring to her son and their family. Check out her story here.

MMCI and HPOCA Joint Preservation Project

MM enthusiasts have found that scanning parts drawings is an easy task and something anyone can learn to do. Plan a visit to Charles City to help with this project. Museum director Mary Ann Townsend will show you what to do. And as an added benefit, the Sleep Inn will give a special discount to those volunteers working on the Floyd County Preservation Project. Read about the project beginnings below.

Update from Loren Book: The Minneapolis-Moline Collectors Club (MMCI) is working as an equal partner with the Hart Parr Oliver Collectors (HPOCA) to preserve information of both companies, which remained after they were bought out by White and then Agco. The two clubs have jointly purchased a quality film reader to transfer the parts drawings to computer; this will make the drawings accessible to future generations.

At the Winter Convention in Clarinda, Mike Verhulst, Phillip Fett, and I handed out numerous cards with contact information for Mary Ann Townsend, the museum director. Mary Ann is overseeing the scheduling of volunteers coming to Charles City for a day, or hopefully, two or three days.

The process as shown in the photos is very user-friendly and the staff can have you working in a short time. There have been 1000 cards recorded to date; we have approximately 49,000 MM cards to go.

We are hoping to complete the process in two years. I do not want to create a contest, but I know that the MMCI membership can do more cards sooner and faster than the HPOCA! On a good day, we estimate a team of two can record 300 cards.

My challenge (and plea) to you would be to call Mary Ann at 641-228-1099 and schedule a time convenient for you to go to the Floyd County Museum at Charles City, Iowa to help preserve this valuable Minneapolis-Moline information.

See a video produced by Jeff Laleman of their NT Experimental Tractor https://www.youtube.com/user/mmcollectorsclub

Jeff and Sandy Laleman from Rock Falls, IL, brought their 1943 NT “Clone” to the MMCI Summer Show in Montevideo, MN. The tractor is a replica of the experimental NT that was demonstrated at the Minneapolis-Moline Experimental Farm their family operated in the 1940s. They have pictures of the tractor working at the farm in September of 1943 and were told the tractor was probably destroyed.

Recently Loren Book, Nevada, IA, gave them photos of the tractor when it was at the Hopkins Minnesota Assembly Plant. Using the “up close” photos, they were able to put together a clone of the missing tractor. The more powerful NT was to replace the ZT, but the Z remained in production until 1955.

The engine is a model of which was used in the military NT X “Jeep,” thus the name NT. The sheet metal resembles the model U. This was done to keep cost down. The tractor came up with the MM Patented throttle clutch that was never used on any other production model.

Jeff says, “We did our best to build a replica as close as we could. And we are still hopeful the original NT is out there. We could not have done such a project without the help of the following people: Loren Book, Bill Ellis, Rob Ohda, John DeReu, Ron DePauw, Wilbert Kerchner, and Rick Laleman.”

See a video of the NT Clone on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mmcollectorsclub

Volunteers Needed! MMCI has an incredible opportunity to preserve MM history at the Floyd County Museum in Charles City, IA. Call Mary Townsend, Museum Director 641-228-1099. Read more about it on the posting below about the Preservation Project. Call today!!!!! Your efforts can make a difference in preserving and providing valuable information to the public. Thank you! http://www.floydcountymuseum.org/