The types of crops grown in the upper Great Plains began shifting in the early 20th century from small grain crops to row crops like corn and soybeans. With the change in crop types, farmers needed equipment that could provide the necessary tillage work. Engineers employed by tractor companies came up with the idea for motor cultivators. Depending on the company the configuration varied, but they featured a single front steering wheel mounted just ahead of the engine. Behind the engine were two rear drive wheels with implements mounted to the rear axle or drawn by a rear hitch. Even though farmers could use the motor cultivators for other work such as pulling plows, disks, planting gear or harvest equipment, they found them to be not particularly useful pieces of equipment. Ten years after they appeared on the market motor cultivators were no longer in production. Tractor company engineers were developing more powerful lightweight tractors that could more effectively do the many tasks required by farmers.
The Emerson-Brantingham motor cultivator shown above was donated to the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum in 1993. The donor, describing the history of the piece stated that “the motor cultivator was purchased in 1919. The tractor was ok for driving small corn shellers, a buzz saw and pulling a stone boat to haul water. If I recall correctly, the summer of 1919 was the only year in which the Emerson-Brantingham was used to cultivate corn. The summer of 1920 was wet, and we had three two-row horse-drawn cultivators by 1921, so the Emerson-Brantingham was a failure as far as field work was concerned.”