439. R. L. Wood

1929

Plaster

13 x 9 x 1 in. (33 x 22.9 x 2.5 cm)

Bas relief plaque of a man in profile facing left.

Inscription: R.L. Wood, April 23, 1929

State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa: I 11924

n/a

Franz John Wood and his brother, R.L. Wood, began making harvesting machinery in 1893 in Rushford, Minn. They moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1899, building threshers like the Humming Bird and the Individual.

While on a trip, R.L. Wood saw steam engines breaking the prairie and heard about them also breaking gears. So on the train, according to Jack Norbeck in Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines, “he conceived the idea to build a double-geared traction engine for plowing and breaking the prairie. Realizing the great strain that would be constantly on the gears, bearings and shafting, he made these all extra heavy and encased the gears in order that they might run in oil. Several years later he built this engine, and it proved to be what he called ‘my masterpiece.'”