FAILED Rein Steer Tractor - Rare 1920 LaCrosse Model M Line Drive Tractor

This 1920 LaCrosse Model M "Line Drive" Was An Attempt To Make A Smooth Transition For Farmers From The House To The Combustion Engine.
Keith Kuhlengel owns this rare 1920 LaCrosse Model M, which steers using horse reins. Very few of these rein drive tractors are still known to exist. Several early tractor manufactures tried building rein drive tractors as a way to transition farmers who were used to driving horses. The idea proved impractical and in some cases dangerous, causing manufactures to recall them. The LaCrosse Model M was designed to be used with existing horse drawn equipment. The driver would sit on the implement and using the long reins would operate the tractor.
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[@ebinmaine]

Classic Tractor Fever. I have it as well. So does my other half. We have a small collection of Wheelhorse tractors. Great to see this beautiful collection of early farm equipment. I hope for the sake of the guy that owns this stuff and everyone that ever reads this... We are never "cured". :-).

[@jimcumback6497]

It's fantastic that there are people who take the time and the money to keep these things restored so that the rest of us can see them

[@deanbarr5740]

Never knew these ever existed. Awesome machines. Enjoyed seeing the Drs. Collection.

[@bernardniesen8694]

I am glad that he has The Classic Tractor Fever, because I never heard or seen this LaCrosse tractor before today.

[@muhammadanassiddiki5753]

He has an awesome collection !!

[@frankwurth5375]

A neighbor had one of these back in the day. They used it for cultivating corn, pulling the old horse drawn cultivator. He was a young teen when he got the job of running it. He always told of one incident, after starting it he left the crank on top of the motor. After a bit , it fell down into the large gear drum you see in the picture, and broke the casting. No repairs were any longer to be had, so they took it apart and had a local blacksmith weld it back together in his forge. It worked like that till the boy went into the a\Army in WWII. He parked it under a tree in the yard before he left for D Day. When he got back, it and the old 10-20 Titan were gone, for the war effort. Some time after the passed away back in the 90s, the cousins were cleaning up the back lot, under the scrap pile they found the frame of the LaCross. It still exists but no other parts have been found. He used to always enjoy seeing the one displayed at Mt Pleasant Ia, for years I thought that one was the only survivor.

[@Dan-qy1rg]

Simply a wonderful tractor, love the rein steering. How grand is that, Keith Kuhlengel has a real gem there. Thanks

[@christianmccollum1028]

A first for me. Never seen a reign-driven tractor before. Genius!

[@howardsimpson489]

What a lovely way to ease your blood pressure and to make good use of a surgeon's salary.

[@ditzydoo4378]

This rig is so ultra-cool. If I ever found one, I would defiantly restore it for the local parades in my county.

[@davidhood5269]

Really neat. Thanks for sharing something very special and unique.

[@09amusement]

I've seen pictures of a Fordson model F with a rein steering adaption, this is designed to be rein steer from the outset. Very neat. Regards from 🇬🇧

[@indianasunsets5738]

What an amazing adaptation!

[@macsloan58]

Excellent. It would be cool to see it pulling a tillage implement - maybe a single bottom plow? Harrow? Thanks.

[@detroitredneckdetroitredne6674]

Wow very cool brother thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise and for taking us on a trip through time on a tractor

[@cougrs48]

That would be something to have around my town, a great Sunday drive down an old country road. Just to get the feel of those days.

[@calliepohl7230]

I am from South Africa 🇿🇦 I really like your collection. Beautiful old implements. Thanks for sharing .

[@Farm_fab]

I lived in Lancaster County for many years. I now live in nearby Chester Country, but have worked and driven Amish for some time. I like their work ethic.

[@charliemacrae1045]

Thank you for the video. Thoroughly enjoyed learning.

[@aaronfarr4753]

There were lots of companies that made Rein drive early tractors. Some tractor companies like John Deere just used extended control sets for use by one man with the older horse drawn implements.

[@whiskeybuilder6335]

I love that this is out in the yard pulling a wagon instead of sitting behind velvet ropes. The green and yellow look very familiar. 🤔

[@adriaanboogaard8571]

He has a example of the first Tractor I ever ran myself at 12 years old in his collection that little red and grey Ford . I was educated by our 80 plus years old neighbor Loyal Collard how to check it out to make sure it was well oiled greased and fueled . Take care of your tools and the will take care of you. Operation firm but gentle. You run the machine don't let it run you and don't be foolish or it will run you over. He was 1st a family man 2nd a Sheep Rancher also a pre Hydrologic Crane operator. He's long since past 20 years but I've 28 on the job because of him and that old Ford.😁👍👍👍

[@Vikingwerk]

That is really neat. Filled a niche for a short time.

[@P61guy61]

Excellent. Thank you for posting!

[@michaelbaumgardner2530]

I've never heard of these,little on seen one,cool concept

[@davidhood5269]

Fantastic collection.

[@travclement9778]

Great interview!

[@kennethjackson7574]

Somewhere I have a photo of a creation of one of my ancestors. Picture a rectangular frame with a steerable wheel on each corner to support it. Two moldboard plowshares in the center, facing in opposite directions. And a steam engine turning two-throw crankshafts, one on each side, with rods about two feet long on each throw. Add a big cup shaped like a horse’s hoof to each rod. The wheels supported the weight, the “hooves” pushed it forward. At the end of each furrow you would flip the rod/hoof pieces over to push in the other direction, and shift plowshares. The wheels’ vertical axles were turned by cables on sheaves to steer the thing. His prototype did not have an on-board boiler- it used steam from the house’s heating boiler. You can probably infer how successful it was because you never heard of such a contraption, have you?

[@joeguzman3558]

What a beautiful machine

[@seanseoltoir]

Looking at some of the tractors that he has in his "classic" collection kind of makes me feel even older than I am because we had those on our ranch over the years and we didn't consider them that old...

[@paulhunt598]

Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, usually has at least 2 rein steer tractors. Seeing these year after year makes them seem common.

[@stumpy2816]

Awesome

[@nathanhansell28]

The most awesome thing ever!!

[@yiy3429]

Truely unique.

[@Hobgoblin1975]

Cool tractor, cool guy

[@lowrangemaniac5326]

This is the perfect definition of "iron horse"!

[@foraminuteforaminute4056]

Quite ingenious how they were able to make a tractor work similarly to a team of horses. If only they could have found a method for making whipping the reins and saying "whoa" control the throttle.

[@hotratz69]

Love the marketing strategy to trick old farmers into buying riding tractors .

[@josedelmarmattos182]

Que Maravilha do princípio do século. Tem que traduzir para o português #Brasil 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@kramnull8962]

Like many small tractors back in time it simply wasn't heavy enough to do the task of plowing in many areas of the country. Soft rich dirt would be where this would perform best. Breaking new ground not so much. The market exploded everytime a manufacturer came with a bigger and more powerful model. Left the light weight companies behind by the dozens.

[@eddycoronado8381]

👍nice

[@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695]

Wow I really want a replica to use

[@aaronfarr4753]

It may seem funny to us now. But if you look really closely at the back walls of very old machine sheds on farms or garages converted from carriage houses you can often see where big holes in them were repaired. Often times during the transition from horses to cars and tractors new owners unfamiliar with such things were given only brief rudimentary instructions on how to start and operate them by the salesman then turned loose to figure out how to do it on their own. So stories from those days of them running straight though the back of the garage or shed while pulling on the steering wheel with all their might, and hollering whoa at the top of their lungs are plentiful. Lots of people especially farmers in those days had never driven anything other than horses. They had seen steam traction engines and such but mostly those weren’t owned or operated by the average small farms but only hired to come for threshing season. Some had stationary small gas or steam engines for belt work on the farm but nothing else that wasn’t propelled by horses. Hence another reason Rein drive tractors enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the early years of the transition to power farming.

[@williamcollins4082]

Kool a mechanical horse !!!

[@grassroot011]

That's Kuhl ,, Mr. Engel.. Ha sorry but just had to write that. But interesting as I've not heard of these rein steer, driven tractors.

[@floydrhodesiv5733]

My uncle bought the old Gruber farm .He bought it from Mary Gruber. He allowed her to live there free of rent until she passed away ,at age 100 yrs old !

[@LordRustyMcAlpin]

These should be mass produced again.

[@leedillon6569]

Was that before the Jerry Rig

[@geomundi8333]

I sort of want my first tractor to be an old classic that is easier to work on; not this old lol; but like a 4020 or something

[@calvingreene90]

Not as bad as the idea of steering a tractor with a team of forces out in front which was done once.

[@alexthomas637]

🚜🚜🚜😎😎😎👍

[@trevorzzealley2670]

Rein steer , Reindeer , Santa has the other one and uses it once a year .

[@adamkowalski9559]

Early drone tractor...

[@robertbailey369]

👍🙂🇺🇸

[@dogwedl1167]

[@carmfarm5]

And you wonder why LaCrosse went broke

[@johnneedy3164]

Yester year mechanical is ausom

[@jensschroder8214]

Now all he needs is a dummy horse on the tractor.

[@buck9739]

Awesome it’s a mechanical horse.