This tractor spent its entire working life in South Dakota with all but five years on the Guilds farm east of Dell Rapids. In 1989, after rejecting many lucrative offers and wishing his Mogul would permanently remain in South Dakota, William "Willy" Guilds donated his tractor to the Agricultural Heritage Museum.
In 1920, Maynard Guild, Willy's father, bought the tractor from the Waxdahl family near Flandreau for $350, about half of the $675 a new 8-16 Mogul cost in 1915. Willy, just entering his teenage years, spent the entire day driving the tractor about 20 miles to their Dell Rapids farm in its only forward gear at 11.12. miles per hour. The Mogul's plowing career was short. After a couple of rounds, Willy said he found the tractor to be too slow, "a jackrabbit could walk faster backwards." It spent most of the rest of its working life on the belt running an ensilage cutter, pumping water or elevating grains. Over the years the tractor has been tipped on its side, stuck in the mud to the point that the flywheel had to be dug out before the engine would run and had its fuel tank explode while thawing out a frozen pipe. Willy said the only thing that saved his life in the explosion was the heavy cast iron rear axle and the hitch that blocked the tanks' path in his direction. Long before collectors were interested in old tractors and before farmers were ready to relieve their memories, at a time when most old tractors were considered junk, Willy kept the Mogul alive at the end of the grain elevator. Neighbors helping pick Willy's corn or harvest his grain weren't impressed with the cantankerous little tractor. He had new tractors, but the Mogul always got a chance at the belt even if it held up harvesting for a few minutes.
The brass plate attached to the engine reads “Mogul Engine Uses Distillate, Kerosene or Gasoline. International-Harvester-Corporation Tractor Works-Chicago, USA. Patents Pending. No. SB11203 Speed 400 H.P. 16. Awarded Grand Prize Highest Possible Award. Panama-Pacific International Exposition San Francisco 1915.”