original vintage american front nose cone grill for covering the radiator and front-end of a tractor. the large lightweight steel grill is intact and in good condition, with some rusting or patination on the textured metal surface. the thick wire mesh is riveted to the back of the grill, which is constructed from three welded pieces. in 1892 in a tiny village in northeast iowa, john froelich (1849-1933) invented the first successful gasoline-powered engine that could be driven backwards and forwards. though it wasn't called a "tractor" that is what is was. at the time, steam-powered engines were used to thresh wheat. john froelich was familiar with such equipment and in fact, every fall took a crew of men to langford, south dakota to work the fields. he was frustrated with the problems associated with steam engines; they were heavy and bulky, hard to maneuver, and threatened to set fire to the grain and stubble of in the fields. froelich decided he could invent a better way to power the engine, by use of gasoline. froelich and his blacksmith will mann came up a vertical, one-cylinder engine mounted on the running gear of a steam traction engine--a hybrid of their own making. a few weeks later froelich and his crew started for the fields of south dakota with teh tractor and a new threshing machine. they threshed 72,000 bushels of small grain. measures 18 x 10 x 25 inches.