American Tractor Corporation
Encyclopedia
American Tractor Corporation (ATC) was an American manufacturer of tracked type agricultural and industrial tractor
s based in Churubusco, Indiana
. Their tractors were marketed using the “Terra” prefix before a descriptive term. The bulldozer
s were referred to as Terra Dozers, the general purpose tractors Terra Tracs and the backhoe
s Terra Hoes. ATC was purchased by the J.I. Case in 1957 primarily to obtain ATC’s unique backhoe design.
based Federal Machine. He purchased a building in Churubusco, Indiana to house his company and relocated the operation there. Working 15 hour days along with his employees allowed ATC to grow by 1951 to $3 million in sales.
By the mid-1950s ATC was building 6 different chassis
with equipment ranging from forklifts to earthmoving and even a Three-point hitch
, rare on crawler tractors.
In 1957 J.I. Case corp made an offer to merge ATC into Case. This was mutually advantageous as ATC had innovative designs but lacked a strong distribution network
whereas Case had not had success in the crawler market, but had a international distribution network. Of particular interest to Case was the backhoe that ATC had developed for its machines. Within the year Case had married the ATC backhoe to a Case 300 series tractor with a loader creating the first factory built and integrated Loader backhoe in the American market .
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
s based in Churubusco, Indiana
Churubusco, Indiana
Churubusco ; often shortened to Busco ), is a town located near the headwaters of the Eel River in the extreme northeast corner of Whitley County, Indiana, United States, in Smith Township, about northwest of Fort Wayne...
. Their tractors were marketed using the “Terra” prefix before a descriptive term. The bulldozer
Bulldozer
A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...
s were referred to as Terra Dozers, the general purpose tractors Terra Tracs and the backhoe
Backhoe
A backhoe, also called a rear actor or back actor, is a piece of excavating equipment or digger consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. They are typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader...
s Terra Hoes. ATC was purchased by the J.I. Case in 1957 primarily to obtain ATC’s unique backhoe design.
History
In 1950 Marc Rojtman purchased the crawler manufacturing from Warren, OhioWarren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...
based Federal Machine. He purchased a building in Churubusco, Indiana to house his company and relocated the operation there. Working 15 hour days along with his employees allowed ATC to grow by 1951 to $3 million in sales.
By the mid-1950s ATC was building 6 different chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
with equipment ranging from forklifts to earthmoving and even a Three-point hitch
Three-point hitch
The three-point hitch most often refers to the way ploughs and other implements are attached to an agricultural tractor. The three points resemble either a triangle, or the letter A...
, rare on crawler tractors.
In 1957 J.I. Case corp made an offer to merge ATC into Case. This was mutually advantageous as ATC had innovative designs but lacked a strong distribution network
Distribution Network Operator
Distribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
whereas Case had not had success in the crawler market, but had a international distribution network. Of particular interest to Case was the backhoe that ATC had developed for its machines. Within the year Case had married the ATC backhoe to a Case 300 series tractor with a loader creating the first factory built and integrated Loader backhoe in the American market .