Twin City Tractors

Twin City (Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Co)
Successor	Minneapolis-Moline
Founded	1908
Defunct	1929
Headquarters	Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Products	agriculture machinery tractor
Parent	Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Co

Twin City was a brand name of the "Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Co" used on the early tractor models. The Firm merged with the Moline Plow Co. (Universal brand) and Minneapolis Threshing Machinery Company (Minneapolis tractor brand), to form Minneapolis-Moline in 1929. Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Co was founded in 1908.

MS&M also built designs for Case and Bull.

History[]

Formed in 1902, the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company (MS&MC) provided structural steel for building bridges, water towers, and flour mills for Minnesota’s largest city, Minneapolis-St. Paul, also known as the Twin Cities. MS&MC was also a contract manufacturer and engine supplier for several other businesses.

Between 1909 and the mid-teen’s, MS&MC supplied tractor engines for Reeves & Company, manufactured the Case 30-60 and the Bull tractors. In 1910 MS&MC worked with McVicker Engineering to develop the first of an impressive line of durable heavyweight gas tractors known as Twin City. A 15-30, 25-45, 40-65, and a 14-ton six-cylinder 60-90 rounded out the heavyweight line-up. In 1914 the Twin City Twentieth Century tractor was produced for the Canadian market and was followed by an automotive styled 16-30. World War I put an end to outside contracts and the company concentrated on military munitions and continued development of a smaller tractor program.

One of the most significant developments in Twin City history was the release of the 12-20 in 1918. This 5,000 lb 340 ci., twin cam, sixteen valve, in-line engine, unit frame tractor had a fully enclosed transmission and final drive running in oil. This advanced machine may have been on the drawing board as early as 1916. At that time nearly all other manufacturers made tractors with open gears mounted on basic channel frames. Twin City also entered motor truck production in 1919 with a 2 ton and 3 ½ ton.

MS&MC did not mass produce cheaply engineered tractors affordable to the small farmer. These machines were subject to severe duty, turning over vast sections of virgin prairie, building and maintaining thousands of miles of new roads for America’s rapidly developing Twentieth Century. Twin City earned a solid, global reputation through world wide distribution and strategic dealer networks. Full service branch houses claimed their products were “Built to do the work – not to meet a price”.

The successful 12-20 was copied in a “twice the size” 20-35 by 1920. This pair was grossly underrated and by 1926, they would become the 17-28 and 27-44 with virtually no changes in design. With the heavyweight line now out of production, a mid-sized 21-32 was added.

MS&MC survived the Great Depression following the war, however, with all this hard-earned success; there was still one glaring omission. The company did not offer a line of tillage implements. John Deere had an impressive line of tillage tools and began production of a general purpose tractor. Massey Harris, Case, and Allis-Chalmers had expanded into full line suppliers. International Harvester emerged as the dominant manufacturer after a favorable termination of Fordson in the famous price wars. Competition was fierce among leading manufacturers.

In an effort to ensure their survival and become a full line supplier, MS&MC organized a merger in the spring of 1929, blending inventory and tooling with the Moline Plow Company and Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company to become the Minneapolis-Moline Power Implement Company. Released just before the merger, the last models designed by Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Co. were the KT and MT. Minneapolis-Moline assembled these Twin City tractors from 1929 through 1938, labeling many of them as MM-Twin City.

Model range[]

Twin City[]

Twin City Tractor Models
Model	Year(s) Produced	Horsepower	Engine Type	Misc Notes
Twin City 12-20	1919-1926	20 hp (15 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 12-20 Industrial	1919-1926	20 hp (15 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 15
Twin City 15-30	1916-1919	30 hp (22 kW)
Twin City 16-30	1917-1919	30 hp (22 kW)
Twin City 17-28	1926-1935	28 hp (21 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 17-28 Model H-A		28 hp (21 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 17-28 Orchard	1926-1935	28 hp (21 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 17-28 Road Chief Industrial	1926-1935	28 hp (21 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 20-35	1920-1927	35 hp (26 kW)
Twin City 20-35 Industrial	1920-1927	35 hp (26 kW)
Twin City 21-32	1926-1928	32 hp (24 kW)
Twin City 21-32 Half-Track	1926-1928	32 hp (24 kW)		experimental
Twin City 25
Twin City 25-45	1916-1920	45 hp (34 kW)
Twin City 25-45 Half-Track	1916-1920	45 hp (34 kW)		experimental
Twin City 27-44	1926-1935	44 hp (33 kW)
Twin City 40
Twin City 40-65	1916-1925	65 hp (48 kW)	Twin City
Twin City 60
Twin City 60-90		90 hp (67 kW)
Twin City 60-95	1916-1919	95 hp (71 kW)
Twin City FT		39 hp (29 kW)
Twin City FTA 21-32		32 hp (24 kW)	Minneapolis
Twin City JT		27 hp (20 kW)	Minneapolis
Twin City JTO
Twin City JTS
Twin City KT		25 hp (19 kW)	Minneapolis
Twin City KTA		33 hp (25 kW)	Minneapolis
Twin City Link Track Tractor				experimental
Twin City LT
Twin City MT		27 hp (20 kW)	Minneapolis
Twin City MTA		30 hp (22 kW)	Minneapolis
Twin City Road Chief Industrial

Minneapolis-Moline Twin City[]

Minneapolis-Moline Twin City Tractor Models
Model	Year(s) Produced	Horsepower	Engine Type
AT
FT	1935-	45 hp (34 kW)	Minneapolis
FTA	1935-1938	45 hp (34 kW)	Minneapolis
GT
GTA
GTB
J
JT		18 hp (13 kW)
JTU			Waukesha
KT	1929-1934	25 hp (19 kW)	Minneapolis
KTA	1934-1938	33 hp (25 kW)	Minneapolis
MT	1930-1934	27 hp (20 kW)	Minneapolis
MTA	1934-1938	30 hp (22 kW)	Minneapolis
TY
UTS
UTU
ZT

Twin City Trucks[]

T 2035ontruck — Twin City 20-35 on a TC truck

Minneapolis Steel and Machinery entered into the production of trucks under the Twin City brand in 1918. Trucks were built in the 2-ton and 3 1/2-ton range in relatively small numbers, in addition to chasis designed for use for buses. Trucks were built into the mid- to late 1920s.

The 2-ton truck used a Buda flathead engine with 4 X 5 ½ bore and stroke. A three speed Fuller transmission was mounted directly behind the engine and clutch. A lengthy Arvac 3 joint drive shaft with ball bearing hanger sent power to a Clark internal gear drive rear axle with single rear wheels. A Ross steering gear with 18 inch steering wheel provided direction, and a 20 gallon under seat fuel tank dictated travel range. Front and rear wheels are select second growth hickory, with hard rubber tires. At some point pneumatic tires were also provided. The entire set of components were mounted on a 6 inch steel channel frame.

Truck1220load — Twin City 12-20 on a TC truck

The 3 ½ ton unit was powered by the same 340 cubic inch, twin cam, sixteen valve, four cylinder used in the 12-20 tractor. A Fuller four speed transmission was mounted mid-ship between Flexite and Spicer universal joints. The driver’s choice of direction went through a 22 inch steering wheel to a Ross steering gear. The under seat fuel tank was increased to 23 gallons. Front and rear wheels are Smith malleable iron. The back half of this truck was engineered for severe duty. At the rear was a large “top drive” Timken-Detroit full floating rear axle assembly with dual wheels. Heavy spring packs are securely mounted to the frame via large pins, shackles, and a set of sizable steel radius rods. This is impressive engineering for the time of manufacture. The extra capacity running gear was mounted to an 8 inch steel channel frame with large hot rivet gusset plates.

There are only 6 known Twin City trucks that exist today.^[1]

Preservation[]

A few of these are in the UK, but most are recent imports from the USA. A few are 'original' UK tractors that were imported under 'Lend-Lease' in WWII.

As there are so few of these all models can be listed in one table on this page. If the list gets long or a significant number of one model 'appear' then a new listing can be added to that models own page instead. (rather than have lists of one or two tractors only)

List of Preserved *Twin-City* tractors
view • talk • edit
Make + Model No.	Reg No. (if known)	Serial No.	Build-Date	Engine-Type/Make	Owner (if known)	Photo	Were seen/Featured in	Other info
Twin City 21-32	BF 4979	no. 153893	1930 (?)	Petrol / Paraffin	R&M Lee, Huddersfield		At Newby Hall Vintage Gathering 2009	A Import from USA
Twin City 21-32	no reg plate	no. 154002	1930 (?)	Petrol / Paraffin	owner ?, Wales	to add File:Noimage	At Neath Vintage Rally 2013	A Import from USA
Twin City 40-65	-	no. 1418	1915		Roger Desbrough, England		To be shown at Carrington 2010	A recent import from USA (2009)
Twin City 15-20					? England
Twin City 12-20					ROI
Twin City 20-35	-							listed on www.steel-wheels.net
Twin City 17-28	-	no. 19815	1926		Richard Sturdy, Galphay, North Yorkshire, England			listed on www.steel-wheels.net
Twin City 17-28		no. 28322	1929		Gilbert Armour collection, Co. Antrim, N. Ireland
Please add any tractor with known reg or serial no. with Photo if possible. A Number exist in museums in Australia, Europe, and New Zealand as well as North America. - TC register on Steel-wheels.net
Create a page (link) for an individual tractor by linking the reg or serial number using reg number or serial number in the relevant column. Then once saved click the red link to start the new page and add info on that tractor.