THE RUMELY RALLY
August 18-21, 2011

With the coming of 2011, the Board and membership of the Mid Michigan Old Gas Tractor Association are proud to announce that we have been selected as the host show for the national “Rumely Products Collectors” Expo. The nation-wide group annually chooses an organization with suitable location, facilities and resources to be the platform for their big event. It will be our pleasure to shine the Featured Brand spotlight directly on one of the most prestigious nameplates in the history of American mechanized agriculture. “RUMELY”!

No, you won’t find that name on the NYSE listings, or the Bloomberg Business report, and unless your memory can take you back to the pre-depression era (not this one, the last one) you probably don’t remember seeing them displayed on a dealer’s sales lot. But they were there, and they were big, and they put LaPorte Indiana on the map. Like so many great American companies during our Industrial Age, they started with the talents and energies of one or two gifted individuals. A simple Blacksmith’s Shop in rural Indiana, serving the needs of local farmers and merchants, ran by German immigrant Meinrad Rumley and his brother, was the very starting point back in the mid 1800’s. The shop may have been simple, but old Meinrad was anything but. He had a talent for all things mechanical, and an engineer’s natural desire to build things that people needed, things that would make their lives easier. Their offerings grew, along with their facilities, until they were producing a variety of harvesting and threshing machines, all in demand as the business of Agriculture began its shift away from hand labor and animal power, toward mechanical means. Spurred by the Nation’s reliance on Steam Power for rail transportation, the company sought to bring that advantage to the farmer as well, first with stationary, and later with Steam Traction Engines. But with all the extra time, labor, and solid fuel necessary to operate the Steam units, there was not a lot of practical application for the typical sized farmer in the Mid-West. Many of the manufacturers of that era were rushing to market a workable “tractor” with an internal combustion engine. Rumely saw that need as well, and with all of their established manufacturing prowess, they were well positioned to enter that market. The company that had earned the famer’s trust with their reliable harvesting machinery now took aim at the venerable team of horses that provided the power for most of the tillage work on average sized farms. If a mechanical equivalent could replace them, it would not only make the farmer’s life easier and more productive, it would also free up the extra acres that had to be dedicated to providing year round sustenance for the horses.

Thus was born the famous Rumely Oil Pull line of tractors, with their oil-cooled engines and induced-draft cooling systems, and most of all, the full faith and confidence of the manufacturer. The quality and durability of the machines was so good that the manufacturer had the guarantee printed right on the side of each tractor. They were guaranteed to burn all grades of low cost kerosene in all conditions, up to their maximum rated load. The huge flywheels and the distinctive sound and profile of their exhaust made them recognizable from all the way across a typical farm of the era, and they still are today. In 2011, we join with the Rumely Products Collectors to celebrate the legacy of an historic American company, Rumely.

We hope you can join us for this unique opportunity, August 18-21, 2011.

Click here to see the 2011

SHOW BOOK

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