The M. Rumely Company was founded in 1853 by Meinrad Rumely. The company built threshing machines, steam engines, and a variety of other farming equipment.

In the early 1900's, Dr. Edward A. Rumely, grandson of Meinrad, was determined to build a tractor that could run on a wide range of fuels. He hired an engine designer by the name of John Secor to work with Rumely's plant superintendent, William Higgins, to design such a tractor.

The Secor-Higgins design involved an engine that was of higher compression than was standard at the time. It was cooled by oil, which served the dual purpose of allowing the engine to run hotter to utilize the heavier fuels and to avoid freezing in cold weather. The Secor-Higgins carburetor not only atomized fuel into the incoming charge of air, but water as well. The water prevented preignition when the engine was run under heavy loads.

The first of the Secor-Higgins designed tractors to leave the factory in 1910 was the Oilpull 25-45 Model B. The same basic design was maintained until the last Oilpull left the factory in 1931.

The 14-28 Model H was introduced in 1917 and built through October 1918 when it was re-rated to 16-30. New features seen on the Model H were cylinders that were cast in pairs, valves in the head, and modifications to the original Secor-Higgins carburetor.

Also new to the Model H was a crankshaft with the throws 180 degrees apart. Earlier models, except for the one cylinder Model F, used a crankshaft which moved the pistons up and down at the same time. This allowed for an even, 360 degree distance between power strokes, but the engine was very unbalanced. By changing the crankshaft throw arrangement, the new engine's cylinders would fire 180 and 540 degrees apart, but the better balance would allow the usage of a smaller crankshaft and flywheel.

Ignition on the 14-28 was low tension. High voltage spark plugs were not used, but rather a low voltage induction circuit with ignitors. These electrical switches inside the cylinder would create a spark when opened, igniting the fuel/air mixture.