Riding shotgun should have been starting shotgun
Start a tractor by firing a shotgun shell? You’ve got to be kidding! However, the post-World War II Field Marshall tractor used just such...
Jeep, made for the Army, originated in Butler, Pa.
Seventy years ago, the first of many millions of Jeeps saw the light of day. The origin of the sturdy little vehicles, which were...
A thing of the past: Check row planters
Learn more about planting corn in checkrows.
Tractor pioneer remembered for his legacy
On Jan. 2, 2011, at the ripe old age of 96, Harold Brock from Waterloo, Iowa, died peacefully at his home. So what, you...
The Pontiac tractor didn’t last long
Plans were to turn out 1,000 Pontiac Tractors for 1919. Apparently the demand for the Pontiac tractor didn’t live up to expectations and columnist Sam Moore doubts if any survived.
1816: The year without a summer
Sam Moore's grandfather, who was born in 1867, used to tell of hearing the old-timers, including his own grandfather, tell of the year when the Fourth of July was celebrated by throwing snowballs.
Where exactly did the word ‘tractor’ come from?
In his comprehensive book about building Hart-Parr and Oliver tractors at Charles City, Iowa, John D. Culbertson wrote the following under the heading "1906":...
Oliver tractor manufacturing was ‘saved’ by Russia
There are tons of interesting stories from the old days of farm equipment manufacturing.
Horse drawn plows: Just a matter of preference
Someone recently asked me why some horse drawn plows throw the furrow to the left, while others (most in fact) throw them to the...
Case VA-series developed for small farmer
As late as the early 1930s, small acreage farmers with only two or three horses and wanting to go to power farming were left with few options.
