Caterpillar Company

Caterpillar Companies Origins

The Holt Manufacturing Company has been using steam tractors since 1890. Steam tractors from the 1890s and the first part of the 1900s regularly sank into the soil of the San Joaquin Valley Delta agriculture in Stockton, California because of their massive weight, which might reach 1,000 pounds (450 kg) per horsepower. By extending the wheels to a maximum of 7.5 feet (2.3 m) in height and 6 feet (1.8 m) in width, Benjamin Holt was able to solve the issue and make the tractor 46 feet (14 m) broad. But this increased the tractors' complexity, cost, and upkeep requirements.

Building a temporary plank road in front of the steam tractor was another option that was given some thought, but doing so would slow down earthmoving and be time-consuming and expensive. The planks should be wrapped around the wheels was Holt's idea. He installed a system of wooden rails connected to chains in place of the steamboat's No. 77 Holt's 40 horsepower (30 kW) motor's wheels. He successfully tested the modified machine by ploughing the marshy delta plain of Roberts Island on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904.

In Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, Richard Hornsby & Sons simultaneously created and patented a steel plate-tracked vehicle in 1904. This tractor was the first to steer without using the tiller's steering wheel by differentially braking the tracks. Numerous tractors were produced and sold specifically for use in the Yukon; one of these was used there until 1927 and some of its parts may still be found today. In 1911, the same year that Holt registered the "Caterpillar" trademark, Hornsby realised there was a little market for their tractor and sold their invention to Holt.

The commercial photographer, Charles Clements, reported that the tractor moved like a caterpillar, and Holt made the comparison right away. Nevertheless, according to other reports, this moniker was given by British soldiers who had seen the Hornsby tractor being tested in July 1907. It's called a caterpillar, that's what it is! Holt sold his first steam-powered tractor crawlers two years later for US$5,500, or almost US$128,000 in today's money. The track structure was 9 feet (2.7 m) long, 42 inches (1,100 mm) wide, and 30 inches high on each side (760 mm). Redwood slats measuring 3 inches (76 mm) wide and 4 inches (100 mm) long were used to make the tracks.

Holt's improved "Traction Engine," which received a patent on December 7, 1907, was the first continuous track that could actually be used with a tractor. "Improvements in vehicles, particularly those of the traction engine category; and featured limitless travelling platform supports upon which the engine is carried"