Ummo Luebben of Sutton Invented the Round Baler

 Ummo Luebben, Sutton Inventor

Ummo Luebben of Sutton invented the round baler. The initial purpose was to wrap straw into tight bundles useful to burn in stoves where wood was scarce. When the design was used on hay, the stems were parallel to the ground repelling water better than square bales (actually rectangular but we called ‘em square). 

Ummo and his brother Melchior began working on the machine in the 1890’s. Ummo was the engineer, and Melchior was the businessman (also president of a Sutton bank). After differences in opinion about the design, Ummo continued on his own and is generally given credit for the invention. Ummo sold the rights to the baler to Allis-Chalmers in 1943. Allis built about 77,700 Roto-Balers in production runs from 1947-1964 and 1972-1974. 

In a 2017 article at agupdate.com, Melchior’s great-grandson Eric Luebben of Fullerton, California said he had found six Luebben balers in the U.S. and Canada, in museums and fields. He managed to buy two of them and wanted to get one working and find a vintage tractor to pull it.

 

Ummo Luebben, inventor of the round baler, was born August 15, 1867, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and died April 19, 1953, in Omaha. He manufactured his baler in Beatrice where he continued modifying it, eventually selling the rights to the patent to Allis-Chalmers in 1943.

Ummo Luebben of Sutton used this drawing for his patent of the round baler issued on Oct. 18, 1910. (Personal note: my memory crutch to remember the date of Luebben’s patent is that it was issued on the day my father was born.)

 

Bauman's Ready to Wear Store Closes 1930

There was a ready-to-wear clothing store in Sutton in the late '20's but it closed in early 1930 according to this ad in the January 3, 1930 issue of The Sutton News. 

The Sheridan implement company began selling Allis-Chalmers round balers in 1947

Round baler technology got its start in Sutton, way back...

The June 12, 1947 issue of The Sutton News carried this item.

William Sheridan was touting his new Allis Chalmers roto baler and side delivery rake. Old timers in Sutton were recalling 40-some years earlier when a local fellow invented the first round baler. The Sutton News editor came close to getting the story right. He credited the invention to “Luben” saying he was a “banker in our town.” Most accounts, and the Sutton Museum credit the banker’s son, Ummo Luebben for designing and building the world’s first round baler. The basic design survives in today’s machines. The Luebben’s patent for the machine was issued on October 18, 1910, interestingly enough, the day my father was born. Ummo Luebben manufactured his baler in Beatrice and Lincoln before selling the rights to the machine to Allis Chalmers in 1940.

This photo of the folks at Wm. Sheridan & Sons appears on page 125 of “Along the County Line.” In the front row are Roger, William, John, and William Sheridan, Sr. The caption identified the back row as “Those who helped the Sheridans.” Let's have a quiz. Comment below if you know who those back row folks might be.

The background story of Sutton's role in the invention of the round baler was detailed in this year's ago post, linked here.

https://suttonhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2008/12/sutton-home-of-round-baler.html

 

Sutton had 13 students at the University for the second semester in 1930.

 

Ads in The Sutton News in January 1950

 Ads in The Sutton Register in January 1940

The Sutton News had merged with The Sutton Register in 1936

 Ads in the Sutton Register and Sutton News in January 1930

These are Sutton Ads from January 1930

And from The Sutton News

Remember, Gold's was a downtown Sutton store until 1890!

Ads in The Sutton Register & The Sutton News - January 1920

These are ads that appeared in The Sutton Register and The Sutton News in January 1920. Note the Lincoln ads from department stores and a hotel that were in the News.