The Advance-Rumely Company of

La Porte, Indiana La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, India ...

was an American pioneering producer of many types of agricultural machinery, most notably

threshing machines A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, threshi ...

and large

tractors A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

. Started in 1853 manufacturing threshers and later moved on to steam engines.

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial setti ...

Manufacturing Co. purchased Advance-Rumley in 1931. The company's main works would become what was later known as the "La Porte plant". Thanks to various mergers and acquisitions, the company's origins stretched as far back as 1853. However, the origin of the two components of the corporate nameAdvance Thresher Company and M. Rumely Companywere somewhat newer, though still long-lived in the agricultural equipment industry. The company was organized under the name Advance-Rumely in 1915.

History

Advance Thresher and M. Rumely

Advance steam traction engine, Abergavenny

Meinrad Rumely emigrated from Germany in 1848, joining his brother John Rumely in the operation of a foundry in La Porte, Indiana. This operation had expanded by 1859 into the production of

corn sheller {{more sources, date=May 2016 A corn sheller is a hand-held device or a piece of machinery to shell corn kernels off the cob for feeding to livestock or for other uses. History The modern corn sheller is commonly attributed to Lester E. Deniso ...

s and complete

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, threshi ...

s powered by

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s. Following success in this new field, Meinrad then bought out his brother's portion of the business and incorporated it as the M. Rumely Company by 1887. In 1895, the line expanded to include steam-powered

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...

s. Meinrad died in 1904, but his sons continued to manage the business. Rumely's most famous product, the

Rumely Oil Pull The Rumely Oil Pull was a line of farm tractors developed by Advance-Rumely Company from 1909 and sold 1910 to 1930. Most were heavy tractors powered by an internal combustion, magneto fired engine designed to burn all kerosene grades at any load ...

tractors, powered by

hot-bulb engine The hot-bulb engine is a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignites by coming in contact with a red-hot metal surface inside a bulb, followed by the introduction of air (oxygen) compressed into the hot-bulb chamber by the rising p ...

using

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

, was first developed in 1909 and began selling to the public by 1910. Meanwhile, Advance Thresher Company was founded in 1881 with a factory in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

. In addition to their namesake threshing machines, this company was a prolific producer of steam traction engines.

Acquisitions and mergers

From 1911-1912, M. Rumely Company began purchasing other firms in the agricultural equipment business. Both Advance Thresher Company and Gaar-Scott & Company of

Richmond, Indiana Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situa ...

were acquired during 1911. Then, in 1912, Rumely expanded further with the purchase of Northwest Thresher Company of

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), St. Croix River, across from H ...

and the American-Abell Engine & Thresher Company of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. All these companies were first reorganized in 1913 as two connected firms: the existing M. Rumely Co. Inc. (effectively the manufacturing side), and the new Rumely Products Co. (the sales and distribution side). A further reorganization brought about the final Advance-Rumely Company by 1915, a move which both streamlined the organization and highlighted its famous forebears. Advance-Rumely hadn't quite finished its expansion goals, either: the Aultman-Taylor Company of

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The city ...

was picked up in 1923.

Consolidation and takeover

Despite all of the history and diversity in engineering acquired along with all of their corporate assets during the 1910s, most of this was left by the wayside as Advance-Rumely sought to fold everything under its new

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

or that of Rumely. The general financial collapse of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, beginning in 1929 and into the early 1930s, began to take its toll on Advance-Rumely. As early as January 1930, the Rumely management began seeking a buyer for the company. Correspondence with Otto Falk, president of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, proved fruitful. Allis-Chalmers agreed to take over the firm and did so by May 1931. Rumely had discontinued its traction engine lines in favor of newer-style tractors. But Allis-Chalmers had a line of those that was quite successful. The remaining Rumely-branded tractors were discontinued. Allis-Chalmers was more interested in Advance-Rumely's line of threshing and harvesting machines (not to mention the sprawling plants that built them). Also, Allis-Chalmers bought Rumely's extensive dealer network, and instantly converted to the complete Allis-Chalmers product line. The "La Porte plant", as Advance-Rumely's main headquarters was now called, became known as the "Harvester Capitol of the World" thanks to its eventual production of Allis-Chalmers' successful All-Crop harvester line. Allis-Chalmers would eventually succumb to

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and the dismantling of its vast business interests in 1985. But, by that time Advance-Rumely was only a memory.

Products

The following is representative of the bulk of Advance-Rumely's production and that of some of its predecessors.

Traction engines and tractors

*Advance Traction Engine (1885–1917) *

Gaar-Scott Gaar, Scott & Co., was an American threshing machine and steam traction engine builder founded in 1849 and based in Richmond, Indiana. The company built simple and compound engines in sizes from 10 to 50 horsepower. Farm machinery produced by ...

Traction Engine (1885–1914) *Rumely DoAll (1928–1932) 22 hp *Rumely GasPull (year?) *

B25/45 (1910–1912) 50 hp *Rumely Oil Pull E30/60 (1910-1923) 84 hp *Rumely Oil Pull F15/30 (1911-1918) 33 hp *Rumely Oil Pull G20/40 (1918-1924) 44 hp *Rumely Oil Pull H16/30 (1917-1924) 33 hp *Rumely Oil Pull K12/20 (1918-1924) 40 hp *Rumely Oil Pull L15/25 (1924-1927) 27 hp *Rumely Oil Pull M20/35 (1924-1927) 38 hp *Rumely Oil Pull R25/45 (1924-1927) 50 hp *Rumely Oil Pull S30/60 (1924-1928) 66 hp *Rumely Oil Pull W20/30 (1928-1930) 33 hp *Rumely Oil Pull X25/40 (1928-1930) 44 hp *Rumely Oil Pull Y30/50 (1929/????) 55 hp *Rumely Oil Pull Z40/60 (1929/????) 77 hp *Rumely Six/6A (1930–1931) 47 hp *Rumely Traction Engine (1895–1916) *Rumely Truck (1918-????) Each Oil Pull also had an associated Oil Turn stationary engine.

Combine harvesters

*Advance-Rumely Number 1 Combine (1925–1929) *Advance-Rumely Number 2 Combine (1926–1930) *Advance-Rumely Number 3 Combine (1927–1936; line carried on by Allis-Chalmers after purchase) *Advance-Rumely Number 4 Combine (1928–1929)

Grain processing equipment

*Advance-Rumely Corn Sheller (1924–1925) *Rumely Corn Shredder (1901–1928) *Rumely Thresher (1904–1936; line carried on by Allis-Chalmers after purchase) In addition to these lines, Advance-Rumely also offered

stationary engine A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. They are used to drive immobile equipment, such as pumps, generators, mills or factory machinery, or cable cars. The term usually refers to large immobile reciprocating engines, pr ...

s, silo fillers, water wagons, cream separators,

plow A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

s, and a line of lubricating oils designed for the company's tractor lines. In addition, there is evidence that the company produced a cargo

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, but data is scarce.

References

External links

Some preserved Rumely tractors
{{Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing companies established in 1853 Tractor manufacturers of the United States Defunct agriculture companies of the United States Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1931 1931 disestablishments in Indiana 1853 establishments in Indiana 1931 mergers and acquisitions Defunct manufacturing companies based in Indiana Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company