Holt tractor

The Holt 120 tractor, circa 1914

The Holt tractors were a range of continuous track haulers built by the Holt Manufacturing Company, which was named after Benjamin Holt.
Between 1908 and 1913, twenty-seven of the first 100 Holt caterpillar track-type tractors were used on the Los Angeles Aqueduct project, which provided a good proving ground for these machines.^[1]

Military Use

They were most famously used by the British, French and American armies in World War I for hauling heavy artillery: including BL 9.2-inch howitzers and the BL 8-inch howitzer. By 1916 more than 1000 were in use by British and by the end of the war around 10,000 had been used.^[2]

A Holt tractor hauling a 9.2-inch howitzer to a forward area in The Battle of the Somme July–November 1916

Specification

There were at least two models used for military purposes: the Holt 75 and the Holt 120. The 120 horsepower (89 kW) model had a tiller-type steering wheel at the front that was usually covered. It weighed about 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg).^[3] The 75 hp model used two tracks for steering. It had a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) and had a gasoline engine.^[4]

Literature

• Holt Tractors Photo Archive: An Album of Steam and Early Gas Tractors, ISBN 978-1-882256-10-5

8-inch howitzer Mk V being towed by a Holt tractor at the Battle of the Somme, 1917

References

1. "Caterpillar company history".
2. "Caterpillar Inc: Roots in Late 19th-Century Endeavors of Best and Holt". International Directory of Company Histories. 63. Farmington Hills, Michigan: St. James Press. 2004. ISBN 1-55862-508-9.
3. "British 'Tanks' of American Type; Officer of Holt Manufacturing Co. Says England Bought 1,000 Tractors Here". The New York Times. 1916-09-16. p. 1.
4. "Vehicles of the A.E.F. During WWI".

External links

Media related to Holt tractors at Wikimedia Commons

• Holt tractor models