The Aultman & Taylor Company
(Page 9 of 10)
May/June 2002
Dr. Lorin E. Bixler
Rupp then called his boss at IHC and related the circumstances.
His reply was, 'Herb, if you don't take care of yourself,
no one else will. You go ahead and help them out.' So he worked
for them at eleven dollars per day and long enough to earn $400 or
$500. With that money in his pocket he went to Highland Park
College in Des Moines, Iowa, and completed his engineering
education.
RELATED CONTENT
He went to Mansfield in 1919 and was employed by the Aultman
& Taylor Machinery Company as a designing engineer. He assumed
a major role in the development of the carburetor for the
company's tractors. It was so designed as to save fuel . About
that time the company employed E.L. Brunger as Works Manager and
placed him in charge of the engineering department in spite of the
fact that Worthington was the chief engineer. Brunger had been an
employee of the Advance-Rumely Company . He was a disappointment,
and the Advance-Rumely Company was delighted to get rid of him.
Brunger attempted to model the Aultman & Taylor 15-30
tractor similarly to the Rumely Oil Pull. Rupp was of the opinion
that the frame of their tractors should have been made straight
instead of having a curvature. As a result of Brunger's
experimentation, the company lost the whole year of 1917 testing
that tractor. When it was finally built, Rupp tried it out, plowing
for sixty days, and at the end of that time the differential broke.
It was not until about 1920 that the company overcame the problems.
Rupp stated that many of the tractors that they sold during
1917-1919 were defective and that wherever they sold one they never
sold another one. In the meantime the Fordson was placed on the
market, and Aultman & Taylor lost its
trade.'8
In all fairness it must be emphasized that the preceding
discussion represents Rupp's opinions, but, since he occupied a
prominent position in the building of Aultman & Taylor
tractors, they cannot be dismissed lightly.
Aultman & Taylor tractors proved to be successful, and the
company was numbered among the leaders in the building of tractors.
Due credit should be accorded to the officials of the company for
being alert to the requirements of that bygone day.
Notes
1. In Chapter 12 Dr. Bixler says that Joe Rynda's
wooden-wheel, bevel gear Aultman & Taylor traction engine was
built in 1877. Dr. Bixler gives the date as 1878 in a caption
accompanying a photograph of Rynda's engine. These dates
conflict with Dr. Bixler's statement that the first Aultman
& Taylor traction engines were produced in 1880.
2. At one point Dr. Bixler says that four bevel gear
engines were built in 1906, but in another place Dr. Bixler says
that five bevel gear engines were constructed in that final year of
production of bevel gear engines.
3. The term 'gasoline engine' as used in this
connection and in the board's deliberations refers to a tractor
and probably is used in contrast with the term 'steam
engine.'
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