minneapolis moline prototype

There is a g 1000 on tractor house that Wilkes has that is a prototype... Is it the real thing?

Yes, they were the first G1000s. Im not sure how many were made with that style (low band) before they were changed to the styling of the M670 Supers. There is a handful of them out there yet with that styling. I wouldn't mind having one myself.

Depends on what a person means by prototype. I may be wrong again, but this is what I think of as prototype.
Sorry for the long post, when I get on a roll it is hard to stop.
Experimental unit, hand built in research shop/lab, to test components for future production. Never seen by the general public, sold, or offered for sale, could be loaned to select operators for testing under actual working conditions, then returned to factory to be analized for wear & reliability, determine which parts, systems to modify, & which are to be carried over into production. A small number of units could be saved for factory archives, the rest dismantled for parts or just scrapped out.

For example, Waterloo Boy tractors. What we know as model R, started out as model R, version A, then version B, C, D...etc, each being a prototype. When they got to version R, they released it for sale as Model R. All the earlier versions were scrapped.
Another example. IHC had the F-12, F-20, & F-30 in production. Prototypes based on the F-20 were known as Increased Power F-20, F-21, F-22 etc for development. These evolved into the H, the F-30 evolved into the M & so on.
If you get a chance, pick up a copy of "Ford Farm Tractors", by Randy Leffingwell. You will be rolling on the floor when you see some of the prototype contraptions that Henry himself designed.
Willie

Would the MM, YT be considered a proto type?
They didn"t build very many, I forget the number.

I think it was around 25 YTs built. There is a handful of them around. I always considered them a prototype as they weren't sold to the public.

That is a good way of explaining it. There were a few of the G1000 Low Bands that were made and sold. During that time the styling was changed to what the M670 Supers were, which were referred to as a high band (white strip on hood). I think, not sure but think there were like 50 of them before they changed the styling. I agree the term prototype can be used in a loose term at times.

Dan Shima is the only one I know that has one.
You are right, there are a handful around the country side.
Its open for speculation of why MM was going to build them.
Could be that would be a cheap way to have a small tractor and not have to start from ground up.
When they are running, it sounds yust like a John Deere 2 cylinder tractor from the Dubuque, Iowa factory.

50 propanes and gas and 100 diesels were produced with the low-band type sheet metal.