The Holt tractors were a range of caterpillar tractors built by the Holt Manufacturing Company

Holt Manufacturing Company

The Holt Manufacturing Company traces its roots to the 1883 establishment of Stockton Wheel Service in Stockton, California, United States. Benjamin Holt, who was later credited with patenting the first workable crawler tractor design, incorporated the Holt Manufacturing Company in 1892...

, which was named after Benjamin Holt

Benjamin Holt

Benjamin Leroy Holt was an American inventor who was the first to patent and manufacture a first practical crawler-type tread tractor. The continuous-type track is used for heavy agricultural and engineering vehicles to spread the weight over a large area to prevent the vehicle from sinking into...

Military Use

They were most famously used by the British, French and American armies in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

  for hauling heavy artillery: including BL 9.2 inch Howitzer

BL 9.2 inch Howitzer

The Ordnance BL 9.2 inch howitzer was the principal counter-battery equipment of British forces in France in World War I. It equipped a substantial number of siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery...

 and the BL 8 inch Howitzer

BL 8 inch Howitzer Mk 1 - 5

The BL 8-Inch Howitzer Mark I through to Mark V were a British improvisation developed early in the First World War to provide heavy artillery...

. By 1916 more than 1000 were in use by British and by the end of the war around 10,000 had been used.

Specification

There were at least two models used for military purposes: the Holt 75 and the Holt 120. The 120 hp model had a tiller-type steering wheel at the front that was usually covered. It weighed about 18000 lbs. The 75 h.p. model used two tracks for steering. It had a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour (6.7 m/s) and had a gasoline engine.

Literature

• Holt Tractors Photo Archive: An Album of Steam and Early Gas Tractors, ISBN 9781882256105

External links

• Holt tractor models