When the steel-wheeled tractor came on the agricultural scene in the early 1900s, there were of course many problems with them. The many manufacturers of tractors were working on these various problems and by the early 1920s, there were several good, solid, affordable tractors on the market. As these tractors became more numerous on the farms, it soon became apparent that there was one problem with them that was not being addressed by the manufacturers and, as is so often the case with machinery, it is left up to the farmer to make the improvement or to find the solution to the problem. In this case the problem was the buildup of mud and/or compacted soil between the two rows of spade lugs on the rear drive wheels of the tractor. When this space filled with compacted soil, the wheel became a smooth, round tire and it no longer provided the traction that was necessary to pull the load. Also, the circumference of the wheel became greater, thus increasing the ground speed and therefore increasing the need for more power in order to stay in the same gear. This additional power was not always there, therefore one would have to stop and shift down. Some method had to be found to scrape out this compacted soil.
Louis and Dan Larson were farming in the early 1920s, with International Harvester Co. (McCormick-Deering) tractors and they saw this need for some sort of scraping device so they began experimenting and after much trial and error they developed a scraper that removed this soil from between the two rows of lugs. Their device employed a trip mechanism that would allow the scraper to trip back in case a rock became wedged between the lugs. If the scraper had been built without this trip mechanism and a rock became wedged in the lugs, when the rock hit the scraper, the fenders would be torn loose from the tractor. The scrapers were mounted on the rear of the fenders with two bolts and a reinforcing rod connected the scrapers to the differential housing, and to add rigidity to the installation an angle iron connected the left and right units together.
These scrapers were designed and used exclusively for International tractors as the wheels on other makes of tractors did not have enough space between the two rows of lugs nor were the lugs shaped in a way that allowed the scraper blade to fit between the lugs.
Realizing now that they had a good, marketable product, they decided that they should patent it so they retained a patent attorney who searched through the patents at the U. S. Patent Office to see if someone else held a patent for the same or similar product. He discovered that there were two patents for a wheel-cleaning device, one owned by a man in Iowa and the other by a man in Canada, that were similar but that the scraper blade was mounted solidly to the scraper unit and therefore would not trip back if a rock got between the lugs, thereby protecting the scraper unit and the tractor fenders. The attorney stated that their trip mechanism made their unit unique but just to protect themselves, he suggested that these two people be contacted and an effort be made to buy their patents. This was done and their patents were purchased for $200. Louis and Dan then applied for and received a patent on their wheel-cleaning device and they formed a company which they called the Trip-O-Sales Company, Hannaford, North Dakota. This was 1927.
They located their manufacturing company in the basement of the Hannaford Mercantile Company, presently B & L Grocery. Equipment such as welders, drill presses, a punching machine, steel bending equipment, grinders, anvil and other hand tools were purchased and installed in the basement. Two parts of the trip mechanism were made of cast iron and they contracted with the Fargo Foundry Co., of Fargo, North Dakota, to make them. Each scraper had two coiled springs which had to have a certain tension to them and they purchased these from a coiled spring manufacturer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. All of the cutting, shaping, punching, drilling, welding, assembly, painting and shipping were done in the basement of the store.
The scraper units were sold to dealers all around the country. These dealers were usually farm machinery dealers. John Moody, a family friend from Kansas, sometimes assisted in establishing dealerships in the area and also as he drove to and from Kansas. Trip-O-Sales also sold many sets to farmers directly, but as the network of dealers increased this was discouraged. Several sets were also sold to the International Harvester Export Company of Chicago, Illinois, which sold them to their agencies in several foreign countries, three of which were Africa, France and Russia. A set of scrapers for a standard, platform type tractor retailed for $17, and a set for an International Farmall type tractor retailed for $23. A set of replacement blades retailed for two for $1.00. In their office which was in the small balcony above the cream testing room in the Mercantile, they had a map of the world on the wall with pins stuck in it wherever there was a dealer. Pierce Printing Co., of Fargo, North Dakota, which is still in existence today, did all of their printing and advertising and also advised them as to how to retail their product.
This business operated and flourished until 1939. When Louis and Dan first saw a rubber tired tractor they knew that that tire would be the tire of the future and that the era of the steel wheel was over. Louis looked forward eagerly to the day when he would buy his first tractor on rubber tires. This occurred in September 1941, when he bought an International "H" on rubber and traded off his McCormick-Deering "10-20." The old "steel wheelers" were difficult to move between fields, were dirty and rough riding.
When rubber tires began coming in more and more in 1938 and 1939, Trip-O-Sales ceased production. Louis and Dan sold all the units they had made up and even managed to sell all the replacement blades for the scrapers. All of the heavy equipment and tools were sold to blacksmiths and machine shops and some of the smaller tools were kept for the farming operation. Not a single set of scrapers was kept for posterity. The year was 1939. Another era of the agricultural scene had slipped into history.
For many years Donald Larson, son of Louis Larson, had wished that a set of scrapers had been saved for posterity so when the antique tractor bug bit him in the 1970s, he began to look in earnest for a set. Finally in 1976, he located one of the earliest sets of scrapers that was built, still mounted on a McCormick-Deering "15-30." He is still looking for the later model. As the owner would not sell just the scrapers, he bought the tractor, restored the scrapers to like-new condition and mounted them on a parade-ready McCormick-Deering "10-20." These scrapers and the tractor have been in several parades since and this year, 1989, the Centennial Anniversary of North Dakota, these scrapers and tractor will be rolling down the streets of time once more.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 249