Rock Valley in Sioux County, Iowa — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Rubber Tires on Tractors
A Historic Landmark of Agricultural Engineering
October 7, 2023
1. Rubber Tires on Tractors Marker
Early tractors were massive and expensive. Their steel lug wheels gave poor traction and a rough ride. Lugs were prohibited on many roads.
1926 Hoyle Pounds modified a Fordson tractor with zero pressure truck tires on special rims to improve performance on sandy soils in Winter Garden, FL. A successful business resulted.
1929 Hessel Roorda equipped Farmell tractors with low pressure rubber tires to pick corn in muddy fields near Rock Valley, IA. Farmers found they performed well in all conditions.
1932 Allis-Chalmers, urged by Harry Merritt, Tractor Division Manager, supplied a WI farmer with a Model U tractor with Firestone aircraft rubber tires at low pressure. This system operated unmodified for 8 years.
Farm magazine ads in 1934 quoted several university reports of as much as 1/3 less fuel and 1/4 more work with low pressure rubber tires compared to steel lugs. No new tractors in 1930 had rubber tires, by 1940, most did.
In 1921 Hessel Roorda first mounted pneumatic tires on a farm tractor.
Erected 1995 by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
Topics and series. This historical
this page online
Location. 43° 12.097′ N, 96° 17.433′ W. Marker is in Rock Valley, Iowa, in Sioux County. It is on 11th Street west of 19th Avenue, on the right when traveling west. Located in Bicentennial Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1800 11th St, Rock Valley IA 51247, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Western Iowa. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Doon Veterans Memorial (approx. 6.1 miles away); Hull Veterans Memorial (approx. 7.9 miles away); The Birthplace of Extension
October 7, 2023
2. Rubber Tires on Tractors Marker
October 7, 2023
3. Rubber Tires on Tractors Marker
October 7, 2023
4. Memorial Plow, nearby
"Donated to the city of Rock Valley by Fred and Stena Yunker in memory of Fred's uncles Alex, Rudi, John, Louis and Fred Miller who broke many acres of praire in Garfield Twp with this plow."
Credits. This page was last revised on December 6, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 10, 2023. This page has been viewed 550 times since then and 95 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 10, 2023.
