At an engine/tractor show in February, 2009 a casual acquaintance mentioned he had some garden tractors for sale. I am always interested in looking at garden tractors with the possibility of making a purchase. We set up a date for Bonnie and I to go take a look and anxiously awaited the day. We had no idea what he had for sale but figured it was worth our while to take a look.
When the big day came and we made it to his house, we were pleasantly surprised at all the treasures he had in his back yard. Besides garden tractors he had cars from the twenties, flywheel engines stacked three high, as well as antiques hanging everywhere! This man was a serious collector! It was a great day for show and tell but it was also obvious they were all his favorites and he was going to have a hard time letting go.
The garden tractor that caught my eye was called a Merry Garden Auto-Cultivator made by the Atlantic Machine and Mfg. Co., 429 Prospect Avenue, S.W.ClevelandOhio. It took a second trip of over 300 miles and some arm twisting, almost begging to get him to let this one go. The reason I was attracted to this unit isthat it was built in the late ‘teens or early twenties, it had a 2 cycle water cooled Evinrude boat engine that uses thermo siphon cooling.The tractor has lots of brass pieces, and the Bosch DU2 magneto is chain driven off the crankshaft. Also, the serial number is 1007 making this the seventh one built?
I found an article on garden tractors that says when the Merry was built there were only about 4 or 5 garden tractors produced with the Merry being the smallest. The tractor weighs260 pounds, has a transmission of spur gears with reduction from engine to drive the wheel. The wheels have a 3 inch face and 20 inch diameter. The clearance is 9 inches to the axle and it straddles a row that is 12 inches wide. At the time this article was written the tractor sold for $185.00. This unit was mainly made for the home owner although some of the ads claim that when you buy a Merry, you can fire three men and get the same amount of work done for less money.
The single cylinder engine when running at normal speed, which is 900 rpm, develops 1 hp draw bar and 2 belt horse power. It uses a splash oil system. The engine can run from 4-8 hours on a gallon of gas depending on the work it is doing. The unit is sturdy and dependable, travels 120 to 200 feet per minute, backs easily, and turns in a 34 inch circle.
Most all the usual tools were made for this unit including a 4 inch plow, a 4 inch double millboard plow, a covering plow, a pair of hoes, a rake, narrow or wide cultivator teeth, three prong cultivator, disk hoes, an onion digger and a 30 inch lawn mower.
In the early twenties, Federal Foundry and Supply Co., also of ClevelandOhio, was the successor to Atlantic Machine and Mfg. Co. The MerryGarden tractor that was built by Atlantic became the Federal Model A garden tractor. This model remained on the market, virtually unchanged, at least until the late 1930s.
I am always looking for more information on this tractor and am in need of a color ad or picture of an original tractor so I can get the color scheme correct.