TRACTOR TRIVIA and other interesting stuff 5/7/2024

[953 nut 55,229]

Today’s letter is “E” and we will examine a company that engineered a good tractor but fell victim to economic extremes.

 

Eagle Tractors

The Eagle Mfg. Co. began as the Eagle Fork Company in 1881. The new Appleton, WI, company was headed up by Richard Miller, a blacksmith by trade, John Kanouse and William Polifka. They had 6 employees, and the product line included hay tools, horse power sweeps and saw mill frames. Horse power sweeps are used to drive machinery. A right-angle gear transforms the horse’s circular motion to a driveshaft to operate a machine connected to it.

The Eagle Mfg. Co. was becoming a diversified company, manufacturing many different products. A sales catalog talked about their extensive line of equipment including: single cylinder gasoline engines, engine/saw combinations, silage cutter/blowers, horse-powered sweeps, power jacks, saw rigs, burr mills and grain grinders.

Gasoline engines and tractors became the primary focus. In 1899 they produced their first stationary gas engine. They then entered the tractor market in 1906 with a two-cylinder design for a 32 hp tractor. The first model was closely followed by a range of four-cylinder tractors in 1910, producing 16-30, 25-45 and 40-60 hp. These were still relatively heavy machines, and in 1913 Eagle introduced the two-cylinder Model D series to meet farmers' demands for a lightweight tractor.

In 1930 they entered production of a row crop tractor utilizing a Hercules QXB-5 6-cylinder engine, Clark 185F 4 speed transmission and a Timken-Detroit differential. The post World War One agricultural depression and the great depression of the 30's fell hard on many small companies and Eagle Mfg. was no exception. They were plagued by declining sales and high operating expenses, even though they built a good quality 6 cylinder, standard or row crop tractor.

1938 was the end of production for the company. In 1941 the company was sold to the Four Wheel Drive Auto Co. of Clintonville, Wisconsin, ending the 60 year history of operation for the Eagle Manufacturing Company.

[ebinmaine 67,498]

5 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Horse power sweeps are used to drive machinery. A right-angle gear transforms the horse’s circular motion to a driveshaft to operate a machine connected to it

 

Seen these but never knew what one was called. 

[Handy Don 12,227]

8 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Horse power sweeps are used to drive machinery. A right-angle gear transforms the horse’s circular motion to a driveshaft to operate a machine connected to it.

 

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Seen these but never knew what one was called. 

It is thought that the builders of the cathedral in Florence, Italy were the first to create a sweep that used a “reversing” gear. It permitted onsite hoists to both lift and lower materials and workers without having to make the oxen that powered them walk backwards or turn around.