Suits, Scandals & Greed! M-M Prototype Crawler

[@markanderson8111]

I retired from an excavating company in Hopkins, MN 11 years ago. At a company party, the owners father told me that in the last half of the 1950's Minneapolis Moline approached him and his brother about field testing the MM crawler loader. The company ended up getting the free use of one or two of the loaders. Their main use was for basement excavation, backfill and grading. He said that with the shuttle pedal they really speeded up the operation because they didn't have to go through the manual clutching and shifting like with the Caterpillars of the day. He also said that there was a weak point, but I don't remember what it was and sadly, he passed away a year or two ago. I have a photo of the MM tractor loading a dump truck, but not sure where to post it.

[@colin8532]

Those MM execs are SO lucky the former employees didn't track them down and properly "thank" them for the loss of their pensions! They would have never been able to figure out who did is since every single employee would have been a suspect.

[@texasjetman]

Absolutely agreed on that statement

[@aserta]

That's how it's always been. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. And they sure enjoy inventing things to make us all fight among ourselves for stupid reasons that really... don't impact us at all, while they are free to do as they want, untouched by any law. Don't you just love rich people and their pets, the politicians?

[@boltgun7266]

I'm surprised some of those guys didn't end up floating. Im sure some employees lost everything, especially the old guys. Hard to start over when you're already retiring

[@kevinknight470]

You got that right. That was exactly what I was thinking, thanx for sharing.

[@tcmtech7515]

Turns out that although the working class holds all the power, they are utter cowards when it comes to protecting their own best interests.

[@ralfie8801]

After that story about the pension assets being stolen, we now understand why the railroads don’t administer railroad retirement themselves. Thanks for telling the story Toby.

[@philipfoster373]

I don’t know of any company that had a employee pension plan or profit sharing plan that went out of business because of ownership death, take-over or just ownership change that the employees didn’t loose everything in the end. Big businessman and attorneys are nothing but modern day thieves.

[@lukestrasser]

I really enjoy these story videos. They take all your hard work getting those stories over YEARS and make them eternal on the internet. Thanks Squatch.

[@tomhoffman9729]

I used to be huge into the IHC line and it's history. I've been to the IH Experimental Farm, the Alexander Legge estate along with the Brooks McCormick estate. When visiting those places I have met with many, many who were "in the loop" kind of people. I owned hand written materials of William Deering and Cyrus McCormick. It's always interesting to read the real story behind all those "smiling faces". GREAT story!

[@dougpark1025]

Having worked as a software engineer, the story you tell, seems totally legitimate. So many things in business are done based more on egos and personal ambition that it is amazing that anything ever got done. A lot of businesses succeed not because of making good decisions, but by accident they happened to hire someone who is able to make the bad decision into a good one. You don't hear about those people very often because there is some manager out there that got a huge bonus for taking credit for the idea they didn't come up with and probably don't understand. A lot of the minor improvements you have pointed out between the prototype and production models were most likely done by someone who got no credit for the improvement. And some of those improvements were probably suggested and ignored before the prototype part was built.

[@scottwhitten5089]

Great video. History is lost when nobody takes the time to memorialize it in print, video,etc…. Thank you for the research and time to share.

[@mrtswan1821]

Excellent video on the X253 photo. I love these types of videos. They add depth to the whole series. Good work Toby!

[@Mmmyess]

Interesting story. I'm a little amazed that someone made such an accurate and functional scale model of the MM crawler when the company assembled only 51 of them.

[@danielbutler578]

It's a shame that the leadership at Minneapolis Moline was so unstable and failed to plan for future expansion. I have never seen a Minneapolis Moline tractor other than videos and pictures. I have heard of the brand since I was a kid and I have always heard that it was a good brand of farm equipment. Unfortunately, it was not popular in our area and as far as I know there were no dealers in the Middle Tennessee area. My dad had Olivers, a Harris Ferguson, and bought Old Emma when I was about 10. The only one that had a good starter on it was the Ferguson. The Ferguson was also the only one that didn't have a hand crank with it. My favorite was the M and I can still hear it starting and being able to count the first three or four hits as she came up to speed. I miss that tractor. It was so satisfying to hear her start and I can still see it with a foot of flame blowing off the stack on a dark night while plowing with the lights showing me where the furrow was.

[@SuperMAZ007]

That was some very well deserved history lesson from Squatch. I have to admit as bad as I feel for the employees who lost there pension funds. This is not the first and only time in history that has been done. Even today when companies file to Bankruptcy. Workers are left with two bare hands in the end.

[@dave.shakawe]

In the 50’s the workers at the cement mill my father worked at went on strike to get their pensions funded outside the company. Years later, that was all he had,as small as it was. Very few unions were that far sighted.

[@tcmtech7515]

Always protect your own assets. Never rely on someone else to do it for you even if they said they would.

[@tractorhyatt7044]

One day History Channel is going to have a series about antique tractors and machinery, and Squatch will be their featured narrator. Impressive research and backstory on that photograph. 🇺🇲🚜👍

[@DAKOTANSHELBY]

Toby, I really enjoyed you sharing the background of characters in that Minneapolis-Moline photo. I love that kind of history. Possibly you could carry that historical element of people and things into each future project you bring to us. Thank you!

[@jazzerbyte]

Interesting back stories! What a shame that the employee retirement plan was treated as a simple asset to be packaged and dispersed along with the company.

[@steamfan7147]

This is why to this day, you never as an employee put all your eggs in one basket. YOU are the only one looking out for you, not the company, not the government and not the union. I say this as the son of a man who got screwed over by his company and then by his union.

[@duron700r]

About darn time someone started speaking out about what was happening then. Thank you so very much. Warren still in control yet possibly fighting with others for that control. Investors and board members are excellent at bringing down perfectly good companies. I need to interview an old work friend about his thoughts about his time with MM. I thought in 1971 being his last year there. Fantastic video! Du.

[@harmlesscreationsofthegree1248]

This was great! I love it when you mix up the content. Your research is thorough and it is a story well told. Very entertaining 🙂

[@geneguenther4325]

Thanks for another history lesson on these 2 prototype MM you have. I always enjoy hearing old stories on where things came from. One of the reasons I hope you finish x231 to show off how the 445 came about

[@texasjetman]

I have no doubt when Squatch finished x231 it will be far better than it’s prototype debut that was obviously rushed into mock-up demo build

[@geneguenther4325]

@@texasjetman I completely agree. I just hope he does finish x231. He was on a live with Rick Bork and Connor House last night and he said when he would finish x231 he’d like to take it for a ride to where they got it from. Would be a great end to the whole x231 project

[@texasjetman]

@@geneguenther4325 that would be so dang awesome. Man that’s going to have 10,000 man hours in it before he’s got it on the ground field ready.

[@geneguenther4325]

@@texasjetman I 100% agree that it would be a fitting end to the build. I couldn’t imagine the amount of hours that’ll be into it but the ending product would look amazing! I’m really enjoying this series especially being a machinist

[@claysmagicalland9097]

x-253 is such a pretty machine. I love her aggressive styling!

[@b.abrackus6403]

Just like today....if you would take Personal Ego's and Greed out of the picture... Life would be so much better! Great story Squatch 👍

[@larrywalker7759]

Wow Toby, what a story! What you cited about "The more things change, the more they stay the same". How true! My opinion of business crooks and cronies and their inlaws and outlaws is this: The difference is that back in them days, most of the photos were in black and white.

[@tcmtech7515]

It is always nice to see how a few leaks can destroy any organization/agenda in short order like we get with the ringside seats we have today.

[@johnnymorrow63]

Best history lesson I've had in quite a while.

[@jamesthompson8008]

Great video, Squatch! Yes you're absolutely right the more things change, line. Yet - that tidbit about Mr Henry there, man isn't that a lesson as well. "Sharp" businessman(10 - 20 times the normal retirement package - OOOFF) is an understatement there, huh? Nice little trek off of the normal theme.

[@MrOuttty]

Man , you roped me in with those die-casts ! They're gorgeous !! GREAT video as usual .

[@jim-normawuertz2628]

Excellent video. It is always good to see that a bit more of the MM company history is being preserved. i think most of the company history was lost when the Hopkins office building was cleaned out. I talked to a guy a few years ago who was there when the building was being cleared out and he said most of the paper records were gathered up and thrown in a dumpster. I guess at this point nobody cared about any of the information that was just being thrown away.

[@paulbush7095]

I must not be “right” either because I definitely would watch a movie about the MM Tractor Company

[@artreed8098]

Great story...The more things change. the more they stay the same...some will never learn. thanks.

[@richardowens9170]

Thanks for the history lesson! Fascinating. Great to hear about the people and the stories behind the machines.

[@johna7661]

The same as it ever was. Reminds me of my Grandfather . Born in 1901, telling me about some of his work experiences. I worked for airlines a few times , they found that if they ran the company on the edge of bankruptcy, it gave them advantage when dealing with the feds and unions. The same as it ever was.

[@dennishayes65]

Now I see what the number in your channel name means ! Thanks Squatch for the intriguing story behind the MM crawlers. Don’t mess with the powerful bankers or they may shut you down !

[@don66hotrod94]

Thank you for explaining the downfall of MM. A very similar story happened at J.I. Case during the 50's and 60's. Tenneco established a unit to root out corruption at Case when they took over. A company that is going downhill is ripe for bad things to happen.

[@UweBehrendt]

I love the history behind any restoration project thanks

[@thomasbailey8306]

GREED hasn't changed at ALL. Just the Amounts of MONEY STOLED...UGH.. Great History Lesson Sir...Great Story ...

[@peterfallert4994]

Thanks for the info on the models. They look quite accurate in their execution. nice addition to your project.

[@lifeafterourloss]

I can just picture those smoke filled, cutthroat back room dealings and power grabs. You are right, nothing has changed, just less smoke.

[@BillTheTractorMan]

Ia sbolutely love story time, just as much as I enjoy the build series videos.

[@rickbrandt9559]

My godfather had the MM dealership in Westbrook MN, He also got shafted in the White buyout stuff. It hurt our area.. I was 17 in 1963.

[@charlescastle5566]

That was a very good story time episode. I really like hearing the history of those companies.

[@chevahaulic]

Guy I know that use to hang out at my shop worked at the factory during the White years in R&D . He had some really interesting stories to tell about that time .

[@Ihbinder14]

👏🏻 I like hearing these stories. To me it just makes these tractors that much more valuable. I just gotta know how rare are them model tractors you have?

[@clydeschwartz]

Very interesting video about the company guys and the investors I suspect the white motor corporation guy was trying to figure out if they could get into the construction equipment market in the same time frame white was trying to buy out Oliver corporation but were not able to until a little later . White motor corporation was a quite shady operation in a business sense.

[@ericsargent4551]

Great history!! Sorry for the employee pensions… thank you for sharing!!!

[@Denis-tu1pd]

Awesome video. Denis from Santa Rosa CA

[@12DGJB21]

Very interesting back story on X253. I noticed on the production models the top track idler is not centered. Could that have been for ease of access to the engine?

[@jonathanbiggar4973]

Hard to believe that the employees money could be accessed by management,doubt they would have lived very long or stayed in the country after stealing the workers money here in Australia, that’s crook and the bastards should be held to account. Great content as always mate glad I watched .

[@ap1687]

Pretty thorough! Thanks for the video! A few more of these and you can add "industrial history" to your channel description.

[@daleholmgren8385]

Great and informative video!! Didn't even take a break to refill my coffee cup! When young and driving harvest gold I had neighbors very proud of shiny new Massey Furgeson 97 tractor. Really enjoyed showing them the script cast into the exhaust manifold! So dissapointed to se demise of MM. "the only thing constant is change"

[@sparkplug5481]

Lake street assembly plant? Is the building still there? Any pictures then/now?

[@michaelbaumgardner2530]

Wow the mad men of 56 ,most interesting story and sad to,X253 has quiet a history.Thanks For Sharing.

[@dscott130]

Thanks for this, Toby! Fascinating story.

[@pedrobatista4439]

13:15 The Italian 1962 Toselli 226 crawler I restored some time ago had the same steering concept. Very nice and easy to use and the left pedal turns into a foot clutch and the right pedal turns into a brake pedal for both tracks.

[@ironman3406]

You know what would be cool, get a bunch of the people who helped with the restoration of the crawler and recreate the picture from 1956.

[@neilshep50]

That could be the kiss of death to the channel 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@geraldharkness8830]

thoroughly absorbing toll very well and gives a rare insight into mm and x253 thank you

[@jackbraithwaite8345]

I love knowing the history. Gives Great Insight into success and failure. Thank You. Looking forward to more Assembly 👍🇺🇲👋

[@Teredifa]

Very interesting back story indeed, thanks for taking the time to tell it.

[@rickyjessome4359]

Thanks for the video Squatch. That was a really neat story. Cheers

[@TugboatMatt]

Interesting history. We have 2 M-M power units that power our barge winches. Both are in bad shape and we might be replacing them with continental diesels that we have. The MM engines are the model 403-4A. They are 1956 if I remember correctly. Might rebuild the engines for fun if I can locate the parts

[@RedIron1066]

It’d be worth rebuilding the MM’s rather than switching to Continental.

[@williamhastings7182]

That's awesome, somehow White Motor Company was able to completely destroy so many up and coming tractor companies....so sad!

[@rogerallen6644]

Great history lesson! I’ve often wondered why MM went the way of the dodo.

[@dirtguy6537]

I can't remember if it was Olivers crawlers or MM crawlers if they kept building them they would of gave Cat a run for there money that's what I heard.

[@terryschwartz6437]

Very good video. Growing up in the sandstone area I remember well the fall of mm a lot of people hurt. Absolutely wonderful video. Thanks

[@Bellboy40]

So in 1956 it was corporate greed, executive greed, raiding pension funds, leaving workers unemployed with no pension, and golden parachutes for the executives. In other words, same as today! Got it!

[@edelm6062]

There is something that I have learned in getting older is that we need to continue to tell the stories. History does matter.

[@terrycolberg6543]

This a very well researched and interesting story. Thank you for sharing.

[@donpampel3332]

Thanks for the story. it adds to the build

[@stevekeast2297]

The 70s were a real bad time for manufacturer employees I worked for a construction dealer as a mechanic and got to meet the older engineers at the Dresser proving ground they had originally worked for Hough manufacturing that hd gotten gobbled up by International construction machinery who was purchased by Dresser corporation. Dresser raided the pension fund and did very little improvements to the machines. Komatsu bought out Dresser as a way to get into the United States it was called KDC at first (Komatsu Dresser Company) a lot of the first machines that we sold were Komatsu machines with Dresser decals on them. A lot of the original factory schools were put on by older Dresser engineers and we could tell the resentment they felt towards the Dresser management they didn’t seem to hate Komatsu so much. Komatsu tried to Americanize there machines using products made in the USA, Cummins engines, Eagle heaters and air conditioners all hydraulic components were made in Japan at least s far as I ever saw worked there for 27 years.

[@larrydavidson3402]

Typical corporate greed on the pensions. A great story Toby.

[@bobpaterson1845]

Love hearing about the history of a company and the men in suits that ran these companies or in some cases pretended to be the brains of the outfit 👌

[@steamfan7147]

From having been in one of those pictures myself. Most of it boils down to not responding to market forces, by the time they did, it was already too late. It's a hard hill to climb to try and carve out greater market share as a mostly regional manufacturer, from much larger companies that are already serving a global market.

[@charlesward8196]

Great historical background. Curiosity is getting to me. What are the little round MM cans on the bench for? Promotional Ash trays?

[@2bonk22]

Treating pensions as assets should have been illegal.

[@pinwizz69]

This episode was extremely interesting. So many American companies have suffered the same issues Moline did. Especially in the automotive industries in 2008 era with the Big 3 almost going bankrupt partially due to ongoing corperate management issues with only Ford not needing a government bailout. In GM's case, it devistated Flint Michigan's factory base. Today only 2 factory buildings still exist in Flint. Even Buick City was torn down. The largest factory complex in GM. All due to bad corperate upper management. Thankfully, My Mom took the pension plan buy out they offered retired employees before that happened. Tru really good investment decisions she ended up much better off than if GM hadn't screwed its employee pensioners and she'd stayed invested.

[@alasdairhamilton1574]

Squatch, fabulous episode and yes it would make a great movie. Not sure of the genre Crime, Gangster, Feud, all of the above. 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@EliseandDanchannel]

There is a good movie from the 50's called Executive Suite. It shows a board room battle for control of the company after it's founder dies. The battle for control is over the direction the company will take regarding its product.

[@JacobASwanson]

Very interesting and informative video. You really did your research. So much knowledge can come from just one photo if you know the back story. Thanks for sharing, keep up the great work!

[@samuelspade889]

Having worked as a mechanical engineer / programmer, I can tell you the major product of large corporations is infighting and turf wars. Any marketable products are the byproducts.

[@8068]

As a person who held a number of senior positions in companies such as Xerox, Kodak, IBM and the former Nortel, I can tell you the comment made by Mr. Spade is ABSOLUTELY correct.

[@andrewgrant-yl7hc]

Thanks for the story mate 👍 shame that happened.. those tractors appeared to be very capable..

[@conspiracyscholor7866]

As the old saying goes "too many chefs ruin the soup."

[@bobuk5722]

Hi Toby. That's an amazing piece of history you have put together and presented so very well using that photo. Sad about the pension fund but I guess there is nothing new under the Sun. Something similar is reputed to have happened here with a well known tycoon who seems to have later fallen off the back of his palatial motor boat and drowned in mysterious circumstances.

[@stevevogelman3360]

I absolutely love this content. Your ability is a blast to watch.

[@noelsheldahl537]

Thanks a bunch for that most interesting history contained in that picture. it shows, as you say, little has changed. Evil always has a destructive agenda. I'm sure the employees, cheated out of their own retirement funds, attempted legal action to no avail??. Thanks again for that background information.

[@mattthescrapwhisperer]

Really enjoying this series. Enjoyed the live stream last night too!

[@JA-ux7dd]

those Moline pump motors are all over S Texas...there are two that I can see from the road, I might be able to get them for the asking.

[@jmspeedycar]

Outstanding Toby thanks

[@shaneharrison4775]

I think I'd want to see that movie too Squatch sounds like a Payton's place affair going on in reality

[@Fatamus]

Quit the backstory. Thanks for your time 👍 . Wouldn't it be cool to have a time machine and go back and listen to the conversations in that room? E.M. Newlin 🤣😂🤣 PT started and DaHam ...

[@byronexley6829]

Emjoy your stories, well researched, thank you!

[@robertmccully2792]

All larger companies have scandals. Where there is money their is greed.

[@davidkimmel4216]

Thank you Thank you

[@douglascorley6630]

Wow great movie

[@mikewednesday8541]

Enjoyed the history lesson ! As they say life can be stranger than fiction!👍🏼

[@alanjarvis8777]

Most interesting...!! Thank you

[@barrywhitley2535]

Interesting story.

[@evankibbe590]

That was very interesting 🤔 Always wondered when white acquired MM 👍👍👍👍👍👍😊🌅

[@dustcommander100]

The hood of that tractor is soooooo sexy! I know a lot of work went into forming the sheet metal.

[@mikebaldwin4220]

Great info when you think about it,always something to stir up bickering between top players in the industry ……….

[@harrowtiger]

Very interesting video.

[@maidenrulz73]

Very interesting

[@JasperFromMS]

When you mentioned about the families, my thought was, "Don't be inset. Someone REMEMBERS them and what they did." Almost all of those men were born over 100 years ago. I doubt even the decendants knew what they did and what their impacts were.

[@AWDJRforYouTube]

White Motors also bought out Oliver circa 1969-70...hmmmm!

[@moplum]

Thank you for the history lesson. I have never, and will never own a White tractor for that reason. I knew some of that history, just not as in such detail. There was possibly back stabbing you didn’t mention. Our local MM dealership shared when they were closing the dealership. That there was illegal lies from executive internal sources about MM that dropped the MM stocks so they had to sell to White Corp. I can only wonder who had the highest gain from doing so, looking at this photo. I don’t blame MM for the loss of retirements in the sale to White. I blame that on White for not honoring, and continuing those retirements when White bought MM as part of the sale.