Inventor. By the 1890s, with his partner Daniel Best as the Holt Manufacturing Company, he was making steam-driven wheeled tractors and harvesters to replace horse-drawn harvesting machines on large farms. In 1906, he built, patented and manufactured the first practical crawler-type tread tractor. With the success of his tractor, he founded Holt's Caterpillar Tractors Company in Stockton, California. During World War I, Holt tractors were used to replace horses to haul artillery and other supplies. The US Army Quartermaster Corps also used them to haul long trains of freight wagons over the unimproved dirt tracks behind the front. Holt tractors were also the inspiration for the development of the British and French tanks. After the war ended, Holt focused less on agricultural machinery and more on producing road-building equipment.
Inventor. By the 1890s, with his partner Daniel Best as the Holt Manufacturing Company, he was making steam-driven wheeled tractors and harvesters to replace horse-drawn harvesting machines on large farms. In 1906, he built, patented and manufactured the first practical crawler-type tread tractor. With the success of his tractor, he founded Holt's Caterpillar Tractors Company in Stockton, California. During World War I, Holt tractors were used to replace horses to haul artillery and other supplies. The US Army Quartermaster Corps also used them to haul long trains of freight wagons over the unimproved dirt tracks behind the front. Holt tractors were also the inspiration for the development of the British and French tanks. After the war ended, Holt focused less on agricultural machinery and more on producing road-building equipment.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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