Dain all wheel drive

I thought I would share some of my knowledge. John Deere first tractor is one of the lesser known ones designed by Joseph Dain in 1914. It was an all wheel drive tractor with 3 wheels. Contrary to JDs later designs, the Dain used a McVicker four cylinder engine. Although the AWD (all wheel drive) had several features that were ahead of its time, including a shift-on-the-move transmission, it was twice as expensive($1700) as the Waterloo Boy so production was stopped. The official run was 1918-1919, with only 100 produced. It had a drawbar horsepower of 12HP and 24HP on the belt. It rated as a 3-14 bottom plow tractor. Only two exist today.

I appreciate this submittal because it reflects the true
spirit of this site versus the daily banter about what brand
of kitty litter to use typically found here.



In effort to keep this thread going can you elaborate on
the Froehlich? I always understood it to predate the Dain.

The Froelich predated the Waterloo Boys. One was built by John Froelich. He then started Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company with investors in the 1890s. They built four tractors, sold two, and those two got returned. The company was sold to another person. That person dropped Traction from the name and focused on stationary engines until 1911, when it started producing the Waterloo Boy. Deere bought them out in 1918. It is a bit of a stretch to claim it has any connection to Deere.

There s a very small museum in Froelich Iowa on hwy 18 about an hour from me. I always think about stopping in when I go by, but I have yet to make the time.

Where is this one displayed?

Butch

There was also another contributing factor to the demise of the Dain design and the decision to purchase Waterloo. Joseph Dain died rather suddenly after working with his tractors in South Dakota. Apparently
they were testing them in some miserable fall weather, and he fell ill with pneumonia. With the main proponent of the design gone, it was easier to head in another direction.

We have been there and seen that one.

Looks like the Pavilion, in Moline, IL. Nice little Deere museum.

There is a guy out there that is reproducing one. He shows up on Fbook sometimes with progress reports.

well, i see that someone already covered the basics of the Froelich, so what would you think of a post about the "Bathtub D"?

Photo of Bathtub D from Antique Power




This post was edited by jd2cyl1943 on 11/08/2022 at 01:01 pm.

Can you share some of the details of the Bathtub D. Its
an interesting story and interesting tractor development.

Sure!
The Waterloo boy R was getting old and JD wanted to build a new and easier to handle tractor. So the designers hit the drawing boards. That was about 1915 I believe. It was built in 1917. It incorporated a lot of the features that the later Two-Cylinders would continue for years. A lot of the working parts were out exposed to the dust and Rainn so a cover had to be fabricated. This cover become known as the "bathtub cover" around the company, which led to its name of the Bathtub D. Actually, its bears little resemblance to the D. It looked more like a Waterloo Boy and actually used the Waterloo Boy name on the radiator. It used a Waterloo Boy R 2 Cylinder engine, and a steering system. In 1992 in Waterloo during a construction project the crew thought that they found a D main case, and Earl Scott bought it. Earl never had time to work on it and in 2011 sold it to Dan Thomas. Earl told Thomas that a number of pieces of scrap iron were stolen of his property , and the main case was dragged out and left behind because it weighed too much. Over the next 6 years the Bathtub D under went a full restation to the state that it is today. The rest is history.


I cant figure out how to post a link, but here is the a video you can copy and paste into your search bar.

https://youtube/2vTbR7s9suw

This post was edited by jd2cyl1943 on 11/08/2022 at 04:08 pm.

If you want I can still do the Froelich.

I decided that i can post info about any two cylinder Deere, from the Waterloo Boy to the 830. tell me what you want

db, I've also been interested in the Froelich and pondered its relationship.
Shoot, I couldn't even get a pronunciation of Froelich to better understand things.
The 3 wheeled Dain: Three or four decades ago, I oogled at a Dain, behind the glass in a trailer, touted to be the only one.
Some years later, I watched a video of one driving around at a show.
They're STILL neat as heck!
Thanks jd!
McVicker four cylinder in the Dain. I wonder IF any relationship to McVicker in Minneapolis for another famous project?
Albeit a few years earlier. Interesting!

The relationship of the Froelich to John Deere comes the the Waterloo Boy. In 1892 John Froelich was experimenting with a tractor that ended up as the first successful gasoline powered, backward and forward driving tractor. After his success he went on to found the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company. That was the company that produced the Waterloo Boys, and is John Deere's Waterloo Works. In 1918 John Deere bought the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company for 2.1 million. This gave them a tractor to sell, the Waterloo Boy. So you see that it isn't directly connected to Deere, but it is in the Deere family. Anyone interested in lost Waterloo Boy models like the "Sure Grip, Never Slip"?

(quoted from post at 15:33:43 11/10/22) Anyone interested in lost Waterloo Boy models like the "Sure Grip, Never Slip"?

Click to expand...

I'd love to know more about them.