[AT] Cockshut, Oliver, Coop etc.

[Larry D. Goss]

I don't know about the old cast iron disks, but I was kinda surprised
when I visited the Kawasaki plant just west of Lincoln, Nebraska a few
years ago and found that Kawasaki makes all the John Deere wheels (and
other brands, too)for the Lawn and Garden tractors.  At least, that's
the claim that was made at the time by the tour guide we had at the
plant.  It's a slick operation -- a multi-station assembly station that
starts with plate steel on one end and ends up with finished wheels on
the other.  It's all automated and has only one man making sure that the
pile of plate steel on one side isn't empty and making sure that the
finished wheels on the other side are stacked on rolling racks to be
trucked off by a teamster driving an ATV.

That plant was full of surprises -- really simple low-tech "just in
time" manufacturing, team assembly (as opposed to assembly line)
operations, and lots of hydro-machining on jet ski hulls.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Indiana
Robinson
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:29 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Cockshut, Oliver, Coop etc.

On 21 Nov 2005 at 20:35, Gene Dotson wrote:

 and by National Farmers Machinery Co-operatives in
> Shelbyville, Indiana. Farmer's hometown and TMCOTKU.
> 



	The rear wheels on that Mercer looked just like the rear 
wheels on the Custom tractor that was also made in 
Shelbyville. I believe the Intercontinental also used those 
wheels. I assume they were from a standard vendor 
someplace.
	This brings up another question. Which tractors wore 
wheels made by their own parent company and which were from 
a an outside vendor? As an example did John Deere make any 
of their own disk wheels? I assume they did make their cast 
centers? Did they contract out the rims?



-- 
"farmer"
Living at Hewick Midwest

Sometimes we have to work at it a little but if we 
are all going to age well we must indeed work at keeping a 
positive attitude. We might as well go out in overdrive and 
with the pedal to the metal because this thing called life 
"don't got no reverse"...  There is no sense wasting 
a lot of time trying to find one... 
(FJR 2005)

Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net
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