Minnesota prison industries

tomturkey · Feb 12, 2021

Down below in the dealer threads someone mentioned the Minnesota prison industries. I recall from other threads that they were a maker of barge and flare box wagon gears. What other "farm" products did the Minn Prison Industries make?? gobble

Absent Minded Farmer · Feb 12, 2021

Binder twine. That may have put them out of business. Some of the wise acre inmates got the idea to wind some of the the balls backward. Did not work well in the twine can with one wrapped right & one not.

Mike

Kow Farmer · Feb 12, 2021

They made manure spreaders and grain wagons from what I remember also. Kow Farmer 🐂👩‍🌾

fastfarmall · Feb 12, 2021

The Gravity box and running gears was the big seller,it was a quality item,but about 25 years ago everybody then bought semi tractor and trailers.

Don Rudolph · Feb 12, 2021

Pretty well known for grain binders in the horse drawn era. We have 2 Minnesota 10 ton running gears under Kill Bros 350 gravity boxes. Heavy duty, but a little crude, they trail relatively well.

M Nut · Feb 12, 2021

Horse drawn sickle mowers also come to mind.

M Nut · Feb 12, 2021

Oh, and hay rakes too.

Donald in MN · Feb 12, 2021

in the 60s my moms dad had a minnesota hay rake. made nice windrows that dried out fast

tomturkey · Feb 12, 2021

I remember someone posting about the twine ordeal and the resulting farmer "boycott" on their twine. gobble

paul · Feb 12, 2021

Yup, dad figured out on the baler twine, they put the label with the arrow on upside down. The twine would not unwind from the center properly. All you had to do was flip the ball right side up and thread the twine out the new top.

He got twine 10 cents on the dollar from several auctions, no one else wanted to use that ‘junk’ twine.

We had a Minnesota manure spreader, pretty good machine for its day,

I got two of the orange 250 gravity flow wagons, terrible they made them too shallow, wouldn’t clean out. Just bought a 400bu red one, much better build, has 2 doors, one on the side one on the bottom for center dumping.

They made quite a bit of stuff over the years.

Paul

bc · Feb 12, 2021

Well truth be told, they were probably experts at making shivs. Just not for sale.

Farmall 656 · Feb 12, 2021

tomturkey,
Here is what I can find for their line up of farm equipment:
From the beginning and into the early years
Binder, horse drawn and PTO 1908-1956
Hayloader, 1928-1950s
Self Dump Hayrake
Side Delivery Rake and Tedder, #1, #2, #3, 1924-1950
Horse Drawn Lift Mower, #1, #2, #3, #4, 1908-1948
Cultivator, 1 and 2 row, 1930-
Grain Drill, 10ft and 12ft

Baler Twine
Binder Twine
Rope

From the 1950s-1990s
Sickle Mower, PTO tractor mounted, #4, #5, #6, #7
Hay Rake, 4 bar, 5 bar
Manure Spreader, PTO, 70-90-110-125-135-155-165-180-220 bushel
Wagon running gear, 6-7-8-10-12-13-15 ton
Flare Box, #125, #130
Barge Box, #1062, #1262, #1472
Gravity Box, 250-265-365-400-450 bushel
2 wheel utility trailer #3070
Garden trailer
Garden cart

If I am missing a piece of equipment or a date, please share. I am always looking for more information.

db4600 · Feb 12, 2021

No, just license plates!

jon f mn · Feb 12, 2021

They made hay mowers and rakes, grain drills, wagons and boxes, manure spreaders and hay elevators for sure. And of course license plates. There may have been more things too.

flying belgian · Feb 12, 2021

As we speak I am rebuilding a 10 ton Mn. wagon gear. Will be building a 16ft. flat rack on it.

tomturkey · Feb 12, 2021

Wow what a history lesson you have shared with the YT family....thank you....gobble

jimmyjoe · Feb 13, 2021

While working on the railroad we delivered car loads of sisal and steel to the prison. Had to be there at noon if we had cars that went behind the wall.

Aaron SEIA · Feb 13, 2021

Dad had 2 of their thrower racks for his square baler with a thrower on it. I remember them being very well made.
AaronSEIA

montidale · Feb 13, 2021

We had a 7 ton Minnesota trailer we had a gravity box on that I used to store corn for my corn burner. It pulled down the road pretty good. I gave up burning corn and went to propane heat. I gave the gravity box to a co-worker and kept the trailer and made it into a hay wagon for hay rides for the grandkids. My sister in law was able to make the decals with he circuit machine.

1370rod · Feb 13, 2021

Still have and use a gravity flow wagon and a barge box, well made units, Rod.

Farmall 656 · Feb 13, 2021

I need to a a couple more items....
550 bu and 650 bushel gravity boxes
15 and 20 ton running gears
16ft and 18ft hay rack wagon

Farmall 656 · Feb 13, 2021

1370rod,
What do you have for a MN barge wagon? Pictures?

Minnesota prison industries

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