March/April 2026 Antique Power
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cover feature | 1919 Waterloo Boy Model N
The March/April 2026 issue of Antique Power magazine is available in our gift shop and will be available in subscriber mailboxes and on newsstands soon. Steve Helmer’s 1919 Waterloo Boy Model N is a dream come true.
A Dream Come True
Steve Helmer’s 1919 Waterloo Boy Model N
Story by Madison Nickel, Photos by Carrie Nickerson
Chasing a desirable tractor model often leads to frustration—especially if the model is rare—but it can also be the most rewarding part of the collector hobby. Sometimes, a unique tractor ends up in your barn purely through luck. Perhaps a neighbor has a machine that turns out to be your lucky barn find, or a family tractor is passed down through generations before coming to you.
More often, however, it takes years of hunting, tracking, negotiating, and hard work, with more disappointments than successes, before locating the tractor of your dreams. After restoring or rebuilding it just right, then loading it onto the trailer for its debut at a local show, you know it is something you will never part with.
Such is the story of Steve Helmer’s 1919 Waterloo Boy Model N.
The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co.
A key chapter in the history of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. traces back to 1888, when an innovative Iowa farmer named John Froelich bought a J.I. Case straw-burner steam engine and threshing machine. He rented this equipment to farmers across Iowa and South Dakota to thresh their crops. Additionally, Froelich used a 4.5hp Charter horizontal stationary gasoline engine, which he mounted on a cart, creating a portable well-drilling outfit.
Building on his experience with these machines, Froelich conceived the idea of a lighter, more portable unit with a reduced risk of fire. In 1892, he bought a large vertical engine from the Van Duzen Gas & Gasoline Engine Co. with a 14-inch bore and 14-inch stroke. Using the running gear, shafts, gears, and pulleys from a steam traction engine, he built a gasoline-powered traction engine in his blacksmith shop. Though the machine appeared cumbersome and many doubted it would work, Froelich and his helper, William Mann, pushed it out in front of the shop, started it, and successfully drove it forward and backward—later taking it to a neighbor who was threshing at the time, and it performed well. Tractor historian R.B. Gray described Froelich’s creation as “probably the first gasoline tractor of record that was an operating success.”
Later that same year, Froelich shipped his machine to Waterloo, Iowa, where he and a group of businessmen formed the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Co. Efforts to build a practical tractor based on Froelich’s design failed, however, and the company reorganized as the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. in 1895. As Froelich’s interests were in gasoline traction engines, he left the new company. Despite the rough start, the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. experienced success in the first years of the 20th century. In 1905, the company built a small gasoline engine called the Waterloo Boy.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the March/April 2026 issue of Antique Power magazine!
Other articles in this issue include:
From the Editor
Letters to the Editor
The Canada Connection: A Measured Response
Fairbanks-Morse had a brief but powerful impact on Canada’s tractor industry!Paper Farming: The Mystery at the Reynolds Museum—Solved!
Rear-Engine Blues
John Blue Co. resurrected a concept Allis-Chalmers made popular!
Story by Chad Elmore, Photos by Brad BowlingTracker of a Thousand Uses
Howard Bowers’ 1948 Schramm 60 is a unique crawler tractor and air compressor combo!
Story by Madison Nickel, Photos by Al RogersA Dream Come True
Steve Helmer’s 1919 Waterloo Boy Model N
Story by Madison Nickel, Photos by Carrie NickersonFlorida Gold in Farmall Red
Robert von Bernuth’s 1939 McCormick-Deering Model O-14 was a tree crop tractor!
Story by Robert Gabrick, Photos by Brad BowlingDr. Dan’s Tractor Clinic: Breathing Easy
This is the second dirty battle all tractors must fight!Scaled Down, Built Up: Supreme Pedal Tractors
Jerry Zahner’s collection is matchless!Classifieds
Show Guide
Of Grease & Chaff: Don’t Aim for the White Hog!
Gallery: Photo by Steph Kalvitis
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