Farmer’s Idea Showed Up On Production Model Deere D’s

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #1, Page #05

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Seventy-four years ago, Minnesosta farmer Henry Sands modified a brand new 1926 Deere Model D tractor to solve a simple yet important problem. His son Ray, who still owns the tractor, recently told us the story.
“Back in the early 1920’s he used a steam engine to power a long belt that ran his threshing machine. A team of horses pulling the bundle wagon drew up next to the steam engine so the wagon could be unloaded into the thresher. The horses were used to the steam engine noise and stood there calmly. However, when my Dad bought a Deere D to power the thresher, it was much smaller than the steam engine and used a shorter belt. The horses pulling the bundle wagon had to stand right next to the tractor, whose exhaust pipe blew out the side of the tractor. The noise and exhaust from the tractor made the horses real jumpy,” Sands says.
To solve the problem, his dad made an elbow and straight pipe for the D that diverted the exhaust upward instead of straight out the side. “Everyone who saw the idea thought it was very clever, including the local dealer, who told his Deere factory representative about the idea,” Sands says. “A short time later the dealer, his factory rep, and a Deere engineer showed up at our farm, where the engineer measured and sketched a drawing of the upright exhaust. They thanked my dad for his time and idea, and my dad didn’t think any more of it.
“When the calendar flipped over to 1927 the Deere dealer mentioned to my dad that new Deere D’s would have an upward tending exhaust pipe, almost identical to the one Dad had made for his tractor,” Sands says. “The dealer told him his idea had made the big time, but my dad never saw a penny of royalty and didn’t even receive a thank you from the company.” For the next 25 years, the upright exhaust was standard on Stoker D models. More than 160,000 were built from 1923 to 1953. (Lorn Manthey, Contributing Editor)

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Farmer’s Idea Showed Up On Production Model Deere D’s TRACTORS Antiques Seventy-four years ago Minnesosta farmer Henry Sands modified a brand new 1926 Deere Model D tractor to solve a simple yet important problem His son Ray who still owns the tractor recently told us the story “Back in the early 1920’s he used a steam engine to power a long belt that ran his threshing machine A team of horses pulling the bundle wagon drew up next to the steam engine so the wagon could be unloaded into the thresher The horses were used to the steam engine noise and stood there calmly However when my Dad bought a Deere D to power the thresher it was much smaller than the steam engine and used a shorter belt The horses pulling the bundle wagon had to stand right next to the tractor whose exhaust pipe blew out the side of the tractor The noise and exhaust from the tractor made the horses real jumpy ” Sands says To solve the problem his dad made an elbow and straight pipe for the D that diverted the exhaust upward instead of straight out the side “Everyone who saw the idea thought it was very clever including the local dealer who told his Deere factory representative about the idea ” Sands says “A short time later the dealer his factory rep and a Deere engineer showed up at our farm where the engineer measured and sketched a drawing of the upright exhaust They thanked my dad for his time and idea and my dad didn’t think any more of it “When the calendar flipped over to 1927 the Deere dealer mentioned to my dad that new Deere D’s would have an upward tending exhaust pipe almost identical to the one Dad had made for his tractor ” Sands says “The dealer told him his idea had made the big time but my dad never saw a penny of royalty and didn’t even receive a thank you from the company ” For the next 25 years the upright exhaust was standard on Stoker D models More than 160 000 were built from 1923 to 1953 Lorn Manthey Contributing Editor

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