TRACTOR TRIVIA and other interesting stuff 1/25/2024

[953 nut 55,297]

The word ACME is seldom heard today unless you are referring to a North Eastern regional grocery store chain by that name. Acme means the highest point or something that represents perfection. It is little wonder that many manufacturers and businesses used the name ACME to give the consumer the thought that it was a high-quality product or service. While researching tractor manufacturers I found several uses of ACME and some interesting branches of their family trees. Here is the Acme Hay Harvester.

ACME Harvester Company

 

Acme isn’t exactly a household name among old iron enthusiasts, but during the late 1800s and the first decade of the 1900s, the Acme Hay Harvester Co., Peoria, Ill., was a significant player in the Midwest grain belt.

The origins of the Acme Harvester Co. begin with an Ohio native named Jonathan Haines who settled in Tazewell County, Ill., in 1826. Although I can find no patent, Haines apparently invented a steam-powered sleigh. During the winter of 1835, he took the sleigh to Galena, Ill., a Mississippi River town, where he hoped to get a contract to carry mail and other cargo up the frozen river to St. Paul and the U.S. Army forts beyond.

The Galena Gazette reported that Haines’ machine was enclosed, with seats and windows, and was “as comfortable as the saloon of a steamboat.” Haines apparently won the right to a trial and made a trip or two between Galena and Dubuque, about 15 miles. However, as an article in the Gazette observed, “Unfortunately, its engine was too small and there was not sufficient power to make it go.”

Heines experimented with a header-type grain-harvesting machine. He invented “a new and useful machine for harvesting grain and grass by horse-power,” which he called the “Illinois Harvester.” The drawing accompanying the patent, which was issued in 1849, shows a 3-wheel machine with a reel and cutter bar at the front.

Behind the cutter bar is a horizontal canvas conveyor that continues up an angled platform to one side. A long strut runs to the rear of the center and terminates in a single wheel steered by a tiller. A horse is hitched on each side of the strut. As the horses push the machine, the operator stands on a platform behind, steering with the tiller and manipulating a long lever that raises and lowers the cutter bar so all the grain heads are harvested, but not too much straw is taken. A wagon pulled alongside catches the grain heads from the conveyor.

In 1890, Acme bought the Hodges Header Co. at nearby Pekin and moved to that city, where the company manufactured Acme rakes and headers as well as Hodges grain headers, mowers and reapers. Acme built headers, binders, mowers, stackers, sulky and sweep rakes, and advertised that its machines were “Not Made by the Trust,” referring to the harvester trust that most major manufacturers were trying to establish.

A 1902 history claimed that Acme was “one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world devoted to the production of grain harvesting machinery.” The same source notes that Acme employed 1,000 men and used 1,000 carloads of raw materials to produce some 20,000 harvesting machines each year. $2 million worth of equipment a year was sold worldwide, with about one-third going to Europe, Australia, Russia and South America.

 

Acme was prosperous until about 1917. The owners of Acme abruptly liquidated the firm’s assets with no provision to take care of repair parts or service for Acme implements already in the field.

Here is an interesting side note to the Acme Hay Harvester Company story.

During the time that Jonathan Haines was building the Illinois harvester in Pekin, Ill., he retained Abraham Lincoln, who was then practicing law in Springfield, Ill., to represent him in several cases.

[ri702bill 8,327]

10 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Acme was prosperous until about 1917. The owners of Acme abruptly liquidated the firm’s assets with no provision to take care of repair parts or service for Acme implements already in the field.

Seen that before - going from awesome to orphan overnight.....

Good article

[953 nut 55,297]

24 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

going from awesome to orphan overnight.

I have found that in a few other cases too, thriving one day and lock the doors the next.

In fact, one of the hydroponic greenhouse operations I worked for in the mid 1980s did just that. There were three general partners and several "Limited Partners" that financed the formation of the company, a LLC. The general partners raised twelve million dollars from the limited partners to build a six million dollar facility. They then used six million dollar facility as collateral for a six million dollar loan for operating capital. Each of the general partners pocketed two million dollars. They then proceeded to loot as much income from produce sales as they could.

I was the facilities manager and it didn't take me too long to figure out that this was a "Bankruptcy for Fun and Profit" operation. I found another farm to manage a couple of months before the company went into receivership. I did have to give a deposition but there was no tie between me and the money trail.

No one went to jail and none of the limited partners got a dime out of the sale of the property. Deutsche Bank got about half of the amount they had lent.

The only good that came out of this was that it provided jobs for about fifty people for two years. I was able to give employment to several of the workers at the new farm I went to.

[JoeM 7,874]

21 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

No one went to jail

No penalty......nothing changes. 

Seems like a current theme?

 

I worked 8 years at a place that was in it's prime and just shut down. Privately owned by two owners, 35 employees. It was real strange.

Over the course of the 8 years production was incrementally improved and things were just sailing. I liked it, small group of men that was like family.

It was down about a month and they called and said they were going to start back up but with a skeleton crew. Just enough to pay overhead until they figured out what they are going to do. I went back for less money and more work stayed a couple months and moved on. 

It all ended a few months later and still don't know why. I knew some in the front office and they did not have a clue. 

In retrospect, they did me a solid. I moved to a larger company and found better opportunity.  That was in the late 80's / early 90's.

[ri702bill 8,327]

Joe - sounds all too familiar on my end. Another Employer story without a happy ending. I was actually approached by a totally different Company after the auction to see if there was enough interrest to start a service business for all our existing machines in the field..... too little, too late.

 

The thing that bugs me about the ACME story is the total indifference regarding parts and service.

 

It is my understanding that modern day Husqvarna redesigns their products every ten years...... My nextdoor neighbor was given a 7 year old HQ snowblower by his wiser older brother - he bought it midway thru their product run. He asked me to look at it - ran fine but would not move. I down loaded the manual for it and got online to search for parts. About the ONLY parts available were engine parts - everything else was obsolete and NLA. No wonder he got it for free!!

[953 nut 55,297]

Same is true for auto parts. My cousin has a good well maintained 2003 car that would not pass inspection in New York State because the parking brake lever was rusted in place. No new replacement parts are available, no good used parts could be found and she couldn't renew the registration without passing the inspection. Fortunately her uncle is a farmer and knows how to repair anything. It took him the better part of a day to remove, disassemble, clean and reassemble the handle but now it works well and she is good for another twenty or so years.  

[Handy Don 12,235]

8 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

good well maintained 2003 car that would not pass inspection in New York State because the parking brake lever was rusted in place

I had the exact same issue with a 2004--thankfully the techs at the shop I use were determined and it cost me only 2.5 hours on the clock and some odd parts.

 

NYS has pretty strict inspection criteria for mechanical and safety stuff. In the past few years, more enforcement and better computerization has foiled many of the shadier inspection stations. More than a few have lost their certification after offending vehicles were found with “valid” inspection stickers they had issued.

[ri702bill 8,327]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

2003 car that would not pass inspection

Suppliers, like the Tier I I worked at make the parts for the OEM's - they are on the hook to maintain replacement parts for only 10 years. Then the "obsolete" assembly equipment is either repurposed or scrapped. IF you are lucky enough to need a part that is used over several years and several platforms, finding a decent used one locally at a place like Pick-N-Pull may be worthwhile.... they deal with mostly 10+ years old cars.