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CatD8by theDecadesIn the 1920s, nobody suspected that a mergermade of necessity would result in a modern-dayindustry heavyweightSTORY BY KEITH HADDOCKn 1925, no one predicted that“Caterpillar,” the name of anew company created froma merger would become synonymous withheavy equipment. Today, Caterpillar Inc. manufacturesa vast range of construction, mining,logging and farm equipment, from the smallestmini excavator to the largest trucks onearth. Finning (Canada) is the proud dealerfor Caterpillar equipment in Western Canada.Here’s how Cat has developed the productlines that Finning sells and services.Crawler tractor pioneers: the 1920sThe two leading crawler tractor manufacturersin the United States merged to form the futureindustrial giant Caterpillar Tractor Company.Arch rivals for years, the two companies, HoltManufacturing Company and C.L. Best TractorCompany, had developed and marketedsimilar products.Benjamin Holt had introduced his firsttraction engine in 1890 and pioneered theworld’s first commercially successful crawlertractor, later in 1904. In 1910, he registered“Caterpillar” as a Holt Company trademark.The same year, one-time Holt presidentC.L. Best started the C.L. Best Traction Company,building wheel and crawler tractors.The merger of the Holt and C.L. Best companiesin 1925 was born of necessity. Wartimetractor orders dried up and the post-wartractor market was flooded with thousands ofnearly new, cheap, government surplus machines.Holt and Best were facing huge debt,cancelled orders and possible failure; mergerwas the only solution.Immediately following the merger, thenew Caterpillar Tractor Company, based atPeoria, Illinois, streamlined its operationsand marketing network. Management chosefive tractor models to form Caterpillar’s firstproduct line: the Holt 2-Ton, the Holt 5-Ton,the Holt 10-Ton, the Best 30 and the Best 60.Forward-thinking management also beganto look for other products to expand sales.In 1928, it purchased the established RussellGrader Manufacturing Company of Min-neapolis, Minnesota. With this acquisition,Caterpillar had taken its first step toward becominga diversified construction equipmentcompany.1930s: Diesel SixtyThe diesel decade: the 1930sCaterpillar played a major role in developingthe diesel engine for use in mobile equipment.It introduced its first diesel tractor in1931, and 10 years later tractor sales werealmost exclusively diesel. From its genesis in1923, years of testing and redesigning tookplace before Caterpillar was satisfied thata field application would succeed. Cumbersomediesel engines of the day worked wellin stationery conditions, but for mobile46 TRACKS & TREADS • Spring 2008 www.finning.ca