The Minneapolis-Moline 5-Star was one of the tractors of the Minnesota company that pioneered the closed-cab farm tractor in 1938. The published company history does not describe the model separately, so this page sets it in the context of the firm’s documented range.
Minneapolis-Moline 5-Star at a glance
| Maker | Minneapolis-Moline, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Company formed | 1929, from three merged firms |
| Factories | Minneapolis (Lake Street at Hiawatha Avenue), Hopkins, Minnesota, Moline, Illinois |
| Landmark model | UDLX Comfortractor of 1938, the first closed-cab farm tractor |
| Four-cylinder line | Z series, including the 34.8 hp ZB of 1953–1955 |
| Six-cylinder line | G series from 1959, reaching the 142 hp G-1355 of 1972 |
| Ownership | Motec around 1960, White Motor Company from 1963 |
| Brand retired | 1974 |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on Minneapolis-Moline, which does not describe the 5-Star separately.
History of the Minneapolis-Moline 5-Star
Minneapolis-Moline was formed in 1929 by merging Minneapolis Steel & Machinery, the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company and the Moline Implement Company, formerly the Moline Plow Company. Its works stood on Lake Street at Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis, in Hopkins, Minnesota, and in Moline, Illinois. Originally known as the Minneapolis-Moline Power Implement Company, the firm later shortened its name to Minneapolis-Moline Company.
The company’s landmark was the UDLX Comfortractor of 1938, also called the Model U Deluxe, which pioneered the closed-cab farm tractor. It was a 2.9-ton machine with Prairie-Gold bodywork, chromed bumper and hubcaps, a passenger seat, a heater, a cigarette lighter, an ashtray and a radio. A 46 hp 283 cu in four-cylinder petrol engine drove a five-speed gearbox for a top speed of 40 mph. At US$2,155 it cost about twice a Farmall or a John Deere, and only 125 were built before production stopped in 1941.
After the war the range moved through four-cylinder models such as the Z, whose 1953 ZB version produced 34.8 hp and stayed in production until 1955, and then to six-cylinder G series tractors from 1959. The G series became the company’s largest and most powerful line, ending with the 142 hp G-1355 of 1972 and the G-955, the last tractor built under the Minneapolis-Moline name in 1973–1974.
The 5-Star belongs to these post-war years, and the video below follows the rebuild of one. The published company history gives no separate specification or production figures for the model. Minneapolis-Moline was bought by the White Motor Company in 1963; White dropped the brand in 1974, and AGCO, which bought White in 1991, kept the White name going until 2001.
Design and features
- Prairie-Gold pedigree: a model of the company whose 1938 UDLX pioneered the enclosed farm cab.
- Post-war range: the years of the four-cylinder Z series and the start of the six-cylinder G series.
- Restoration interest: the video below records the rebuild of a 5-Star tractor.
Minneapolis-Moline 5-Star versions
- 5-Star: the model described on this page.
- Company neighbours: the four-cylinder ZB of 1953–1955 and the six-cylinder G series from 1959.
The 4-Star is its smaller stablemate, and the documented four-cylinder figures are on the Z and ZB page. More tractors are in the Minneapolis-Moline collection.
Video: Minneapolis Moline 5 Star Rebuild
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Minneapolis-Moline, English Wikipedia: company history, UDLX, ZB, G series
