Waterloo - What is made there?

[ddivinia]

I noticed in this article:

Sandbagged levee holds in Iowa, protects city - Yahoo! News

That a railroad bridge is toast. What all is made in Waterloo? I suspect some people might be waiting on equipment.

D.

 

[Dutch445]

UMMMMMMMMM



TRACTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[yankeerider]

Deere website indicates an iron foundry there and 7000,8000,9000 series tractors. Also list an engine plant there, which makes sense in conjunction with the foundry.

 

[BleedGreen]

Deere announced Wednesday morning that they have "indefinitely suspended loading operations due to high water levels around the factory" and that they will notify dealers when operations resume.

 

[ddivinia]

Deere announced Wednesday morning that they have "indefinitely suspended loading operations due to high water levels around the factory" and that they will notify dealers when operations resume.

The big tractors might be hard to get for a little while..

D.

 

[megotatractor]

Yep, Big, Green Tractors. There is indeed a foundry, an engine works, and tractor factory. I have toured all three and highly recommend it to anyone who has a day to spend. These facilities are amazing and fascinating. Watch in the foundry as they cast the big diesel engine blocks and tractor chassis. See these castings machined into engine parts and at the end they start these engines for the first time. Be amazed as engines and chassis are painted and assembled in the tractorworks,something like 40 acres under one roof. Cabs are built there and mated to the tractors, wheels are slapped on and they drive the machines to a testing area.

 

[Wombat125]

I have toured all three and highly recommend it to anyone who has a day to spend.

Me much jealous.

I'm kicking myself for not doing precisely that when I lived in Marion, IA for so many years. Phooey.

 

[Egon]

The Waterloo boy, start of John deere tractors?

A History of The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company

 

[mikim]

Wombat - I grew up in Springville .....56 - 68 ... left after H.S. never to return except to visit. Going back over the 4th to see Mom. When she's gone - I'll probably never go back again. My wife really likes the antique shops in Marion though.

 

[Wombat125]

Wombat - I grew up in Springville .....56 - 68 ... left after H.S. never to return except to visit. Going back over the 4th to see Mom. When she's gone - I'll probably never go back again. My wife really likes the antique shops in Marion though.

Perhaps you knew the Mysaks and the Tews from Springville?

I'm kind of with you though. After 35 years, my folks moved back to the farm in Minnesota, so I'll probably never get back to Marion.

 

[mikim]

I graduated HS with a Steve Mysak ... but there were so many Mysaks in the area -- cousins, second cousins, kissin' cousins ....never heard of Tews.

 

[Cyclone Jake]

I know for sure that they make the 8000/9000 series there. Did not know about the 7000 series. Also, I believe that they build the cabs for the 3000/4000 series in Waterloo also. I've toured the Engine Works, but have not been through the rest. Had two uncles retire from there.

Here's a little pic for the JD fans out there:

Caption: "170 John Deere tractors built in the Waterloo factory pass underneath Edgewood Road NE in Cedar Rapids on board an Iowa Northern Railway Company train enroute to Galveston, TX for shipment to Brazil on Friday July 23, 2004. Iowa Northern Railway Company president Daniel R. Sabin stated the train was over a mile long with 85 railcars of tractors. Sabin also said the Waterloo factory exports around 18,000 tractors a year."

Also, for those interested in antique Deeres, the Two Cylinder Club is having their get-together this week.

Two-Cylinder Magazine

 

[MrJimi]

I have a 4,000 pound lift car jack that has that name on it and it needs seals and I can't find anything about it. It's an air over hydraulic jack like they used to use in tire shops when our cars had real bumpers