Minneapolis-Moline
It had manufacturing facilities on Lake Street at Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis, in Hopkins and in Moline, Illinois.
MSM, the largest of the merged companies, had been a leader in the anti–labor union (open shop) movement.
It was a member of the Citizen's Alliance (CA), a powerful Minneapolis business league that kept the city largely union free for over 20 years.
The tractor consisted of a single axle with power to it, this was then connected to a variety of interchangeable implements from which the operating station is located.
[citation needed] Four different series were made over its production span, beginning with The Original, followed by the B and C, and the last upgraded model, the D. Introduced in 1917 (20–30 years prior to many competitors), Model D featured what many believe to be the first electric starter for a tractor.
Minneapolis-Moline pioneered the concept of the closed-cab farm tractor in 1938 by developing the UDLX Comfortractor (also known as the Model U Deluxe).
[4] The UDLX had flowing enclosing bodywork and a well appointed all-weather cabin, which contained a passenger seat, the idea being that the farmer and his wife would ride in comfort.
[5] It was equipped with automotive features such as safety glass windscreen, windshield wipers, an electric starter and a dashboard with a speedometer, clock, sun visor, rear view mirror, plus several firsts in a tractor, including a heater, a cigarette lighter, ashtray, and a radio.
[4] The 2.9 ton tractor was powered by a high compression Minneapolis-Moline four-cylinder 283 cu.in (4,637 cc) KED petrol engine which produced 46 hp and drove a gearbox with five forward and one reverse gears which gave it a top speed of 40 mph.
[5] The model experienced poor sales due to its high cost of US$2,155 (1938)[5] (double that of a Farmall or Deere),.
[4] A general recession starting in 1938 also negatively impacted sales of this and most other durable goods.
It was powered by a four-cylinder petrol engine which produced 34.8 hp and drove a gearbox with five-forward and one reverse gears.
In 1955 they made a few changes to larger engine bearings and the final drive and introduced the model GB Diesel.
The G-1350 which was introduced in 1969 was powered by a six-cylinder diesel engine which produced 141 hp and drove a transmission with ten-forward and two-reverse gears.
