Tractor Trivia

Snowmachine
By Auctioneer Eric W. Mickelson

Several years ago I was on a trip to Montana with a group of teachers. We were all part of a Teaching American History Grant. We were on a bus trip following much of the Lewis and Clark trail. It was a great trip. One of the places we stopped was Butte, Montana, and we went to the World Museum of Mining  there. We went down about 60-100 feet and got to look at some of the shafts left from the old mine and learned about the mining industry that was so important to Butte. This year when my wife and I returned to Montana I suggested we go to the Mining Museum again. So we did!
When we drove into Butte, my wife navigated to the World Museum of Mining. As we drove in, some of the things came back to my memory! The museum contained a little bit of general local history including a sort of pioneer village with a few businesses that were native to the city of Butte.

The one exhibit that I had seen before was still there. It was an old Fordson tractor with sort of spiraled tubes on each side. The machine was made to go through the snow. I have looked up videos on youtube that show these machines in operation. The story goes that the Armstead Snow Motor was designed and used to convert a Fordson Tractor so it would have two cylinders one on each side. It was nicknamed the “Snow Devil!” In a promotional film the snow motor was seen hauling 20 tons of logs! SInce each side was basically a “pontoon” it is rumored the machine also worked on water, so it was a kind of amphibious machine.

Everything sounded pretty cool until I came across this information. In January of 1926 3 snow machines were sent to Alaska. Their job was to haul 15 tons of aviation fuel to support a transpolar flight from North America to Europe! The tractors proved to be hard on fuel and slow.The sleds used in the expedition were constantly breaking down.  
Well, they looked pretty neat, although not that trustworthy! I think I’d still like to take a ride on one!

How about a little tractor trivia?
1. True or False: There are an estimated 10,000 miles of mining tunnels under the city of Butte, Montana.
2. The abandoned mine at the museum in Butte is called the Orphan Girl or Orphan Boy mine.
3. Around the turn of the 20th century what caused a great increase in the need of copper?
4. Production of the Fordson tractor in the United States began in what year?
A)1915 B) 1917 C) 1919 D) 1921
5. What country imported the most Fordson tractors?
Answers: 1. True  2. Orphan Girl  3. The advent of electricity. 4. B. 1917 5. Soviet Union
 

Eric Mickelson

Green Magazine

RIchard's Publishing

Oklee, MN 56742

218-791-9157