J.D. Adams & Company was founded in 1885 by Joseph D Adams who invented the first leaning-wheel pull grader and was based in Indianapolis. The leaning wheel, combined with an angled blade, increased the grader’s ability to excavate and move material in a specific direction. The grader could be pulled using a team of horses or by a motorized machine. This well-preserved example of an early 20th Century Adams grader was found in Hosmer, S.D.  (Photo by Jim Meachen)