CATERPILLAR History 1900's - 1930's

For more than 85 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent.

1905 - San Francisco, California A Holt steam traction engine works on the construction of a section of San Francisco's cable car system.
San Francisco's famed cable car system got its start in 1873. Over the next several decades, modifications were made to the system and new lines were added. Photos taken in 1905 show Holt Steam Traction Engine #37 being used to help lay new cable. This is the first documented instance of our machines in use on a public works construction project.

1906 - San Francisco, California A Holt steam traction engine is used during recovery efforts after the San Francisco Earthquake.
The San Francisco earthquake ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. Photos taken following the quake and subsequent fire show Holt Steam Traction Engine #37 helping with the cleanup. This is the first known instance of our machines in use to aid in disaster recovery.

1908-1913 - California Holt's track-type tractors receive exposure on the Los Angeles Aqueduct Project.
Twenty-seven of the first 100 Holt Caterpillar track-type tractors went to work on the Los Angeles Aqueduct Project, which provided a good proving ground for these machines. Because of contract deadlines, Holt's engineers were forced to quickly find solutions to mechanical problems. From this experience came solutions and technical improvements such as all-steel construction, three-speed transmissions, better spring suspension systems, better clutches and strengthened tractor parts.

1914-1918 - Europe Holt's track-type tractors play a support role in World War I.
Even before the U.S. formally entered WWI, Holt had shipped 1,200 tractors to England, France and Russia for agricultural purposes. These governments, however, sent the tractors directly to the battlefront where the military put them to work hauling artillery and supplies.

These tractors also provided members of the British army with the inspiration needed to design the tank. Colonel E. D. Swinton had seen Holt's Caterpillar tractors in action and borrowed their track-laying principle to provide the tank with its form of locomotion. 

After the U.S. declaration of war, Holt placed its facilities at the disposal of the government. The Holt Manufacturing Company had advantages over other tractor companies due to the relationship it had developed with the U.S. Army Ordnance Department. In fact, bids from the Ordnance department called for specifications of the "Caterpillar type." Holt expanded factories to accommodate production of the large numbers of tractors the government required. Over 5,000 Holt tractors were produced for the U.S. and Allied governments during World War I.

June 16, 1919 - Colorado A Holt 5-Ton Caterpillar Tractor climbs Pikes Peak.
A Holt 5-Ton Caterpillar Tractor was the first tractor to successfully navigate the 20 miles up to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado. In doing so, it also established a new record by reaching the highest point - 14,109 feet - at which any tractor had ever been operated up to that point in time.

1921-1992 - Europe Many Holt tractors and hundreds of Caterpillar machines help construct the Rhine-Main-Danube Waterway.

May 31-June 9, 1928 - U.S. to Australia A Caterpillar Sixty Tractor pulls the Southern Cross to the runway in Oakland, California, to start the first ever trans-Pacific flight.

 
On May 31, 1928, a gasoline-powered Caterpillar Model Sixty Tractor pulled a Fokker F.VIIb trimotor monoplane known as the Southern Cross from the hanger to the runway at the airport in Oakland, California. Piloted by Australian avaiator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew, the Southern Cross then took off on the first ever trans-Pacific flight from the U.S. to Australia. With only brief stops for fuel in Hawaii and Fiji, the Southern Cross landed in Brisbane, Australia on June 9th - covering 7,400 miles during the 8 ½ day journey. A few years after that first trans-Pacific flight and with several other flight records to their name, Sir Smith and the Southern Cross came back to Oakland for a celebration. This time, a gasoline-powered Caterpillar Model Fifteen Tractor handled the plane at the airport.

1929 The Soviet Grain Trust purchases 2,050 Caterpillar machines.
The Soviet Grain Trust farming organization purchased 1,300 Caterpillar tractors and 750 Holt Caterpillar combined harvesters for use on its large farm cooperatives. This sale helped to keep Caterpillar's factories busy during the Great Depression.

 

1930's

 

1930-1939 - Belgium Caterpillar tractors help construct the King Albert Canal.
Twelve of the first 25 Caterpillar Diesel Sixty Tractors (built during 1931and 1932) worked on this construction project.

1931-1936 - Nevada and Arizona Caterpillar track-type tractors help construct the Hoover Dam.
Once the largest hydroelectric producer in the world, the Hoover Dam stands 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long. Contractors excavated 3.7 million cubic yards of rock and poured 4.36 million cubic yards of concrete to build the dam. The dam formed Lake Mead, which backs up 110 miles behind the dam and is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the U.S.

1932 - Louisiana Five Caterpillar Diesel Sixty Tractors work on the Mississippi Levee construction project.
A contractor working on the Mississippi Levee ordered one of the first Diesel Sixty Tractors that came off the assembly line. He liked the performance of the machine so much, that he immediately ordered four more.

1933-1937 - San Francisco, California Caterpillar machines help construct the Golden Gate Bridge.

1933-1943 - Oregon Caterpillar machines help construct the Bonneville Dam.
For every one of a competitor's tractors in use on the Bonneville Dam, contractors used 19 Caterpillar tractors.

1934 - 1940 - Montana Caterpillar machines help construct the Fort Peck Dam.
Twenty-one times as many Caterpillar machines as all other makes combined were at work on the Fort Peck Dam.

1934-1942 - Washington Caterpillar machines help construct the Grand Coulee Dam.

1935-1938 - Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Caterpillar machines help construct the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
One hundred percent of the tractors used to construct the Delmarva Canal displayed the Caterpillar trademark.

1935-1938 - Ohio Caterpillar machines help develop the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy district flood control project.
This project involved the relocation of several railroad lines and highways and the construction of 14 dams. Contractors used 164 Caterpillar machines and a number of Caterpillar engines on the project.

1936 - Quetta, India Caterpillar machines clean up debris after a devastating earthquake strikes Quetta, India.
For a year after the quake in Quetta, India, people gathered debris by hand and used mules to haul it away. After the government brought in Caterpillar machines, work progressed quite rapidly, and new buildings were soon under construction.

1937 - Nova Scotia, Canada Several Caterpillar machines aid a rescue operation at the Moose River Mine.
1937 - Washington More than 20 Caterpillar machines help construct the Rosa Irrigation Canal.

1937 - 1980 Caterpillar machines work to build the Pan-American Highway that will link North and South America.

1937 - Iraq & Palestine Caterpillar machines in large fleets are working on the Haifa-Baghdad Highway, an important link between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

1937 - Wake and Midway Islands Caterpillar equipment serves on the Wake and Midway Island Air Bases.
Three Caterpillar diesel electric sets were in use on each island powering the lights, refrigeration units and radio equipment for the Pan American Airline bases. Caterpillar tractors also hauled airplanes and supplies, set up windmills and performed other odd jobs around the islands.

1938 - New York Caterpillar machines and engines help construct the fairgrounds and buildings for the 1939 World's Fair.

1938 - 1940 - Pennsylvania Caterpillar machines help construct the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Caterpillar built 172 out of the 218 track-type tractors in use on the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Caterpillar also built 17 of the 23 motor graders that contractors used on the project.

1938 - 1941 - California Caterpillar machines help construct the Sepulveda Dam.

1939 - California Nine Caterpillar tractors perform most of the leveling and landscaping on Treasure Island to prepare it for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.

1939 - Holland Forty-five Caterpillar tractors work on the Zuider Zee Reclamation Project.

Thank you for stopping by and reading this page. May God always continue to provide security, safety, smoothness and blessings .. aamiin.





Source : caterpillar.com