TRACTOR TRIVIA and other interesting stuff 4/22/2024

[953 nut 55,230]

FITCH FOUR DRIVE TRACTOR COMPANY

 

John H. Fitch was a problem solver who developed several innovative products. Long before he invented the Fitch Four Drive tractor Fitch had patented a Folding Berry Crate while working at a at a small sawmill and basket factory. He also was issued patents for a drill, a ratchet wrench, and a Self-Opening Street Car Switch Mechanism.

Prior to the 1902 Fitch Switch invention a street car operator would stop the street car, exit the car, manually operate the switch to go onto another pair of tracks, remount the street car, pass through the switch, stop the car, exit the car, manually place the switch in its previous position, get back into the streetcar and proceed to his next stop. With the Fitch Switch the operator simply moved a lever in the street car and proceeded on his assigned route.

Fitch’s farm in Michigan had some challenging areas to deal with and he felt that a Four-Wheel Drive tractor was the answer.

The first attempt at building his four-wheel drive tractor began in 1910. Rear drive axles from two tractors were fitted to a chase with an engine mounted in the middle. Overcoming steering problems was accomplished by What is referred to as a Live King Bolt which allows the power to be passed through the pivot point of an articulated frame.

In 1914 Fitch sold his ratchet wrench patent rights for $ 5,000 ($ 160,000m in 2024 money) to finance the development of his new design for an improved four-wheel drive tractor, “The Four Drive.” In October of 1914 patents were granted for his invention.

In February 1915, Fitch completed his first tractor and headed out to test its ability on the hills of his farm. All the locals came out to watch as he traversed the countryside with ease. The next day he drove his tractor to Ludington, MI, seven miles away. When he saw what his tractor could do, and the impact it made on the local people, he decided to build them commercially.

He built a tractor and a truck model and took them both to Detroit in February and March of 1915 to show off his inventions and to discuss their possible manufacture. Several automobile experts pronounced the truck as one of the most important automobile inventions of the past year. Fitch used a Waukesha engine and a Cotta three-speed transmission.

The tractor had many features that were not on previous tractor models. Its short turning radius, improved suspension, trailer/plow attachment and two speeds were other items besides the four-wheel drive that made this an important improvement to farming. The tractor could go into difficult places where conventional tractors could not.  It could come out of a ditch as well as break through snow drifts. There was no danger of getting stuck in sand or clay, the lightness of the machine and its equal distribution of weight prevented it from sinking into the ground to any appreciable distance.  Although light in weight, its power enabled it to pull a very heavy farm tool. The increased power came from the fact that the tractor was gear-driven vice chain-driven like the tractors of that time. This allowed for more transfer of power from the engine to the wheels.

One demonstration took place on marshy land, critics said it would bury itself as a team of horses would do in such ground, the tractor not only pulled itself out of the marsh but it pulled up a submerged tree trunk to which it had been fastened!

On November 29, 1915, John Fitch incorporated ‘The Four-Drive Tractor Company’.

Fitch was offered a deal from the town of Big Rapids, MI.  A new manufacturing facility and power for five years to operate his business if the company moved their operation to Big Rapids. Fitch made the necessary arrangements and moved to Big Rapids in 1916, to a 45-by-200-foot building, in addition to a 30-by-40-foot blacksmith shop.

After John Fitch’s untimely death in 1916 Vice-president, Elbert Jenkins became the President (it is unknown if company secretary Clay Olmsted was related to Charles Olmstead who invented a different four-wheel drive tractor in 1912). The company continued to make improvements on the tractor to fill orders that were placed in 1916. The company finally received the steel and other materials that were in short supply during World War One and were needed to produce tractors starting in 1917; however, the company struggled financially during the first few years.

The Four Drive Tractor Company secured a solid footing during 1919 because of various improvements that were made to the tractor and the company. These changes lead to the firm selling its entire 1920 output before the year started.

After Motor Age magazine of Chicago published a story on the stump-climbing tractor in March 1916, literally hundreds of letters poured into the Big Rapids post office. Inquiries came from every state in the country and every first-class foreign nation. French, English and even Russian firms wrote for information regarding the new machine. 

By 1919, the company established a Foreign Department in New York City to arrange for the sale of tractors to individuals and governments in foreign countries. The tractors were manufactured at the factory in Big Rapids and then were shipped from the factory to the purchaser by railroad and then by cargo ship a shipping port in that country.

If you are fluent in the Finnish language, you can let us know what is said in this advertisement.

    Under the headline "The Four Drive Tractor is Going Strong," the flyer reads:

 "Four years have passed since the Four Drive tractor first interested the people of Big Rapids. Since that time a factory has been constructed and a large addition built. The company has passed through the vicissitudes usually incident to the swing of a new industry. Days of experiment and struggle have come and gone."

 "At the beginning of 1920 the Four Drive stands in a favorable position. The experimenting is done. The tractor is standardized. It is giving splendid satisfaction in the field. It is a good machine; many users and dealers regard it as the best on the market. Its motor burns oil. And my, how it pulls!"

"The judgment of the men in charge is that the Four Drive has gone by the period of trial. Of late it has been making some money. The earnings are not large, but they give promise that, with production on a quantity basis, the earnings can be put up to a gratifying point. A dividend is now being paid to the holders of preferred stock. This stock is preferred for a 7 percent dividend, and the dividend on this stock must be paid when the company is making a net profit. It is estimated that the present net profit is between $2,000 and $3,000 per month on present production."

 "The demand for the Four Drive tractor is way beyond the present power to produce. A contract has been made which absorbs all the probable production for 1920. The problem is one of production and management."

"The policy of the present management is to build upon accomplishment rather than upon promises and hopes. The accomplishments of the past year lend solidity to the belief in the future of Big Rapids' newest industry."

 An article from a Big Rapids newspaper reported that in September 1928, sales representative Evart W. Bogart set sail from New York on a four-month trip to French possessions to set up and instruct operators with the Fitch Four Drive Tractor. He went to Havre, France and then to Paris to meet with the French representative of the Four Drive Tractor Company. The two men planned to go to Morocco, Algeria, Casablanca, and other French colonies in Africa. The tractors had been sold to these colonies for many years and Mr. Bogart had several more on the ship with him.

     The company continued to produce tractors in 1929. The exact date that the Four Drive Tractor Company ceased operations or to whom all assets of the company were sold is unknown, the financially troubled company ceased operations after the stock market crashed in October 1929.

[Treepep 564]

Jeesh, what a beast!  

 

Put me down for two.  I gotta make room first,  I do not want it sitting outside!

[WHX?? 48,815]

Very interesting today. Look at the guys building articulated 4WD machines today. 

Odd that when sales were good a big manufacturer didn’t buy up the four drive. 

[953 nut 55,230]

9 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Odd that when sales were good a big manufacturer didn’t buy up the four drive.

Just a matter of unfortunate timing. There were a lot of great ideas being developed when the depression hit. The Big boys like Ford and Deere were selling what they had for less than production cost just to liquidate inventory at the time.