Johnson tractor
| Business |
Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
Sunnyvale |
| Active |
1907-19 |
| Aliases |
Johnson Traction Engine Company[1] |
| Successors |
Hendy Iron Works |
The Johnson Tractor Company (also known as the Johnson Traction Engine Co.) was an agricultural machinery manufacturer in San Jose in the early days of the 20th century. The company designed several tractors designed for orchard use: the initial "toe-hold tractor", and the Johnson improved tractor. The company may also have worked on the "Calkins & Johnson Ball Tread" tractor. The company sold rights to build the tractor to the Hendy Iron Works. The company appears to have disappeared by 1914.
The company appeared to be a family business run by three brothers. John M. Johnson was the president of the company. Alfred C. Johnson, who was a significant builder, was the vice-president. August T. Johnson was secretary and treasurer. The boys were born in Iowa; the family moved to California before 1900, living in a few places in central California - Dixon and Silveyville. In 1907, the siblings founded the Johnson Traction Engine Company to design gasoline powered engines, experimenting with designs for tractors that could work well in orchards[2]. Their initial Toe-Hold design was sold to Hendy Iron works and manufactured by the company. Hendy sold the design to the Rumely Company in 1913, but retained rights to build the tractor[3]. The Johnsons also designed the "Johnson Improved Tractor" - similar to the Toe-Hold, but with more sheet metal and shielding[4]. The company does not appear after 1913; Alfred "Alf" Johnson, James H. McCollough, and Fred D. Calkins continued the work by buying a 2/3 interest in the design of a "ball-tread" caterpillar track from Clarence Henneuse, a foreman for the Best Tractor Co. in Oakland. Johnson helped to commercialize the tractor[5], implementing a transmission for the new tractor[6]. The Ball Tread used large ball-bearings in the caterpillar track race, providing remarkably low rolling friction.. The balls had a tendency to fall out; "Detractors claimed that a Yuba operator need a boy with a gunny sack following behind to collect the spilled balls." The company intended to manufacture the new tractors in Detroit. The tractor failed to sell well; the Yuba Construction Company bought the design out of bankruptcy in 1913, and sold the models for several years. In 1921, Yuba's 12-20 model was manufactured in Benecia, and sold for $2,600[7]. Johnson, McCollough, and Calkins later designed the Track-Pull, selling the design to the Bean Spray Pump Company.
Photos
Johnson Toe Hold Tractor. Photo in collection of Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunnyvale | 1907-1899 | Fair Oaks Ave. near Evelyn Ave.[8] |
References
- ↑ John M. Johnson, Johnson Traction Engine Co.: Polk's 1908 San Jose City Directory.
- ↑ Ben Korning and Anneke Metz, Sunnyvale. "The Toe-Hold model resulted from experiments in which Johnson and his brothers placed horseshoes around tractor wheel rims for better traction.
- ↑ Industrial News: September 19, 1912 Municipal Journal. "The property and patents purchased some time ago from the Johnson Tractor Company by the Joshua Hendy Iron Works, San Francisco Cal., have been sold to the Rumley Mfg. Company, LaPorte, Ind. The traction engines, however, will be manufactured as before by the Hendy plant, Sunnyvale Cal."
- ↑ Johnson: Steel Wheels. "Alfred C. Johnson developed his first tractor around 1909, and this was subsequently built at the Joshua Hendy Iron Works in Sunnyvale, California. The tractor seems to have been variously known as the Johnson Toe-Hold and Improved Johnson Tractor Model C. Production only lasted until around 1913, when the rights to the design were purchased by Rumely, who continued to market it for a while as the Rumely Toe-Hold tractor."
- ↑ Antique Engines and Tractors, Bill's Page.
- ↑ Sam Moore, The Crawler that Rolled. Farm Collector, April 2001
- ↑ Yuba Prices Increased: November 26, 1921 Implement and Tractor Trade Journal. "San Francisco, Nov. 22. The Yuba Products Co. has announced an increase of about $200 in the prices of the Yuba Ball Tread tractors. The 12-20 hp, which was formerly $2,470, now sells for $2,600 f.o.b. Benicia, Cal; the 15-25 hp, formerly $2,945, now $3,100; 20-35 hp, formerly $3,975, now $4,135; 25-40 hp, formerly $4,755, now $5,000."
- ↑ Johnson Tractor Co., 1911 Polk's San Jose City Directory.