The tractor is a 1961 HOLT and
the first answer is no, it was not made by
Caterpillar or the original Holt that combined with Best prior to forming
Caterpillar. I've been answering that question since I bought it in 1967. It
was built by Holt Manufacturing Company in Independence, Oregon.
(And it's Not For Sale.)
The name Holt appears on many Cat blades and
winches built between about 1946
and
1964. (Also
for John Deere/Linderman,
International Harvesters and Allis Chalmers.)
In the early '70's I packed up
the family and drove to Independence to look for answers and I met
and spent some great hours with Francis Holt, the owner and founder of the
company. At the time, he had sold his holdings,
which, after another sale/merger, became the Franklin Sweed Division of
Franklin Equipment Company. (To learn about Franklin
Treefarmer
go to
http://www.franklin-treefarmer.com and click on "Foundry.")
Mr. Holt was still working in the shop for them and this is what he told me: It seems that Caterpillar and others deemed it less
expensive to have their blades and external attachments farmed out to private
contractors across the US rather than building and
shipping them from their factory (there was
a small fabrication shop in downtown Tacoma, WA
doing just that until the 1990's.) Holt became one of those contractors and built blades and
winches, with the Holt name on them, from the
mid 1940's up until he retired and sold
his holdings to Swede Mills, the foundry across the street that did his
steel casting (which, it seems, he also originally owned.)
As stated above, Swede Mills has since merged with Franklin,
which is still in business,
building logging equipment. During world War II Holt had a
contract to build winches and hydraulic blades for the US
military and then thousands of them afterward through
Independent Distributors, Portland OR. That's why many dozers
had the name Holt on the blade and the winch during that time and that's why
the perpetuation of the name and the confusion with
Caterpillar.. Holt blades are easily recognized by the
sturdy
design of the outside
track arm and the shape of the blade itself. Many also had a placket
welded to the top of the blade with "HOLT" on it, but most have either been
ripped off or removed to mount an accessory.
This crawler has a 134 CID Ford "600" gas engine
(some had the 144cid diesel,) a Ford tractor "Sherman" reversing transmission and
a Clark transmission integral with the differential and steering brakes (no
clutches.) This transmission is also found in Oliver OC4's and in Case 310's
and 350's. Case bought the Clark
gearbox in the 1980's and it can
still be found in their machines. I can still buy Case
and Oliver parts that will fit in my gearbox
(if I ever need too.) The frame, final drives, all the track parts and the
body parts were built by Holt.
I'm always looking for other
Holt owners. If you have one, let me know!
My tractors and others:
October 25, 2009: This stump was right in the way of the mower.
All Johnnie Deere wanted to do was spin his tracks and the D2 Cat was too big
and awkward to get the job done so Mr. Holt came through again.
So in September 2006 I bought a little 1959 John Deere 440ICD loader.
Now old Mr. Holt has a friend to play with....
Also in September a
friend bought some property and while chopping down the blackberrys and
thistles next to the barn he found this little guy. I bought it from him
and now I have a Ford V6 powered Oliver oc-3. I fully intended to scrap
him, but he's just too kool ....
May 27, 2007.
What can I say. He's a D2 Cat with a Holt blade, needs help and the price was right.
Ready to go home.
Not many can see a diamond in the rough here:
The little Holt pulled the D2 off the trailer.
October 11, 2007, back together and running:
Meet Allis. She's 70 years old, set to lose some weight, get some new
tin and a paint job. July, 2009:
An then she's just going to hang out with the crowd.
OH!
Here's Henry (and our Grand daughter.) All these tractors
sitting around and when there's work to be done, Henry's the guy that does it.
He received his new paint job the Spring on 2008.
This diesel powered, 6-way blade Holt belongs to a friend
in Oregon. This tractor is Not For Sale! If you're
interested in contacting him for information, email me and I'll forward your
email address to him.
Here's one from Bothel Washington. He's in the
process of moving to Walla Walla, Washington with the family. He's been
with them since 1973. This tractor is Not For Sale!
This Holt has lived about 5 miles from me since about 1968.
This Holt tractor Is Not For Sale!
To the Home page:
Photo Gallery
