By Svante Nylander

Stockholm, Sweden 2009-01-18

This story begins in the mid-30s when a company named Anders Fischer AB was an authorized seller for Westeråsmaskiner AB, one of Sweden’s biggest manufactures for agriculture machines with worldwide sales. At that time they realized that it was time for the farmers to go from horse to tractor and they searched for a known agency and the choice fell on MM.

At that time there were not many persons familiar with the English language in Sweden, so the head salesman Mr.Gösta Axelsson’s knowledge in English became important; therefore, he was the man who had all the contacts with the MM Company.

There was a man named Mr.Mortimer who arrived in Sweden from MM to negotiate in the matter. The first tractors arrived 1937 and the last one 1939. The total number of imports was 125-175 units of models R and Z.

The tractors that arrived in Sweden were mostly used as pullers for all kinds of agricultural machines, or as stationary engines for threshing-mills.

After the beginning of World War 2, it was no longer possible to import anything from foreign countries by boat because the Germans torpedoed all the ships they could.

All the tractors were delivered from the U.S. in big wooden boxes and my father, K-E Nylander, was responsible for all the handling with the help of Mr. Henry Pettersson (Mr.Pettersson is still alive and in a good health and has helped me with all the facts in this matter).

They picked up the boxes by truck from the harbor and assembled and adapted them for use in Sweden. All this work was done in temporary workshops and even in our garage at home.

Due to lack of petrol and kerosene during WW 2, the government set up a hard rationing for oil products. The only way to keep the tractors going was to adapt them for wood gas. There were existing aggregates for cars and trucks and with help from parts, my father and Mr. Axelsson constructed and put them up on the tractors.

Mr. Pettersson remembers that they worked very well on wood gas, however there were a big risk of fire on the fields when they had to take out the ash and sweep the unit from soot. Likewise, the gas was dangerous, it contained a big part of carbonic oxide, so it was not possible to run and drive the engines inside the shop or garages.

The tractors that were imported during 37-39 were sold as new for a long time in the early 40s and they never imported any more tractors from the U.S. after the war. The next tractor brand they took up was the Dieselross tractor.

Editors note: Svante Nylander has written this little article after a translation of a memorandum from Mr.Henry Pettersson.

On the main floor of the Floyd County Museum you will see a Minneapolis Moline RTU on loan from Lorin and Mary Brass from Lennox, South Dakota. The slideshow shows the process of getting the R inside the museum! Three display cases of MM memorabilia are also new additions to the museum in a joint effort to give Minneapolis Moline a stronger presence and to let visitors know that many MM historical records, build cards, manuals, and other items are also housed there.

Loren Book documented the event in the following article and describes how it all happened.

March 31, 2015 marks a special day for Minneapolis-Moline collectors. A real-life tractor was delivered to the Floyd County Historical Museum in Charles City, Iowa. We all know that there are numerous artifacts, historical records, build cards, manuals and other records housed in the museum, but there was nothing to indicate that they were there. Last fall several of the MMCI committee met with some of the FCHS Museum board members and the discussion was how could MMCI work with them in the future. A very legitimate question was asked, “When someone walks into the museum, what is there to indicate that all this information is housed in the museum?” The FCHS board members agreed something was needed. We now have the presence!

On the main floor (overlooking the door to the Oliver tractor display downstairs) there is now a Minneapolis-Moline RTU. The tractor is on loan from Lorin and Mary Brass from Lennox, South Dakota. There are also three display cases of MM memorabilia. The first case has the Darlene Swartzrock collection, courtesy of Harold Swartzrock, with numerous sales aids published by the MM Company over the years.

The second case has memorabilia supplied by Loren and Ruth Book from Nevada, Iowa. The third case has memorabilia supplied by Dave Elofson and Lloyd and Linda Rave from the Siouxland Collectors Club of South Dakota. Two of the display cases were built by Alan Thompson and donated by the MMCI. The third case was built and donated by Lloyd and Linda Rave. Thank you!

The tractor story of how it got to the first floor is interesting indeed. The door leading to the main room has a door measuring 66 inches. Knowing that we wanted a tractor, we began measuring and did not find one that would fit through the door. The RTU was a small tractor with an axel length of 81 inches, still way too wide to roll onto the floor. It was the combined ingenuity of Phillip Fett, Lorin Brass, and Lloyd Rave that came up with a one of a kind caster-wheeled dolly to sit under the rear of the tractor. Then the rear wheels were removed and the tractor was snaked down the hallway and around the doorway to allow entry to the main floor — with an inch to spare. Thank you to Lloyd Rave, Lorin Brass, Dave Elofson, and Dick Burns for helping to move the tractor into the museum.

As the displays were being set up, a visitor to the museum, Dean Risen, showed an interest and while talking to him we discovered that he had worked at the Charles City plant from 1962 to 1992. He was very happy to talk to us about some of this experiences with the Minneapolis-Moline’s last tractors built in Charles City. He now knows that MM information is available.

The tractor and displays are on loan for a period of time agreed upon by the Museum staff and the individuals. Our plan is to have this be a revolving exhibit so that many displays can be showcased over the years. The displays need to be educational and have signage to tell their story. There is one display case still available: if you have and would be willing to show your items, please contact Loren Book.

Check out the MM experimental equipment photo album Rick Laleman added to our Photo Page. Scroll to the Other Categories. Thanks Rick!!!

Butch Fuder and Rex Mercer have an interesting update on the R Cab Project they started a couple of years ago! Go to the PDF report