Advance-Rumely 1853-1931

Rumely started in 1853 in La Porte, Indiana by Meinrad Rumely. The firm started by manufacturing threshers and later moved on to steam engines. The first internal combusion tractor at the company was the OilPull, launched in 1910 and developed by Dr. Edward Rumely. The tractor was designed to operate on kerosene, which was cheaper than gasoline, but burned in a narrower temperature band. Rumely's solution was to cool the engine with oil. The OilPulls feature a large cooling tower in the front, the exhaust vented through the tower to create airflow without a fan. In 1915, the company changed its name to the Advance-Rumely Company because of a 1911 merger with the Advance Thresher Company. The massive OilPull tractors were, essentially, internal combusion variants of steam engines. The giant machines were suited only for the largest farms or for threshing work. In the late 1920s it became obvious that Rumely was behind. The company attempted to enter the market for smaller tractors with the DoAll and the 6A, but it was too late. The final blow was an unprofitable export venture with Russia. Allis-Chalmers purchased Advance-Rumely in 1931, and stopped production of all models.

B (25-45)

W (20-30)

Year	Serial Number
1928	1
1929	2129
1930	3734

X (25-40)

Year	Serial Number
1928	1
1929	1546
1930	2260

Y (30-50)

Year	Serial Number
1929	1 to 45

Z (40-60)

Year	Serial Number
1929	1 to 215