953 nut 55,198 #1 Posted July 4 It seems appropriate that on this fourth of July we celebrate the Liberty Tractor The Liberty tractor gives us an opportunity to learn some tractor history while remembering some political history. During World War One the United States had a quasi- governmental agency called the “National Vigilance Committee” whose self-appointed task was seeing that businesses didn’t ‘exploit the names being used for items intended to aid in achieving victory’. Trucks and machinery used by the military were commonly referred to as “Liberty” engines. The committee had no legal authority to do so but in 1918 they insisted that the name Liberty Tractor be changed. Elmer Pitcher, founder of the Liberty Tractor Company, responded that the name had been adopted in October of 1917, six months prior to our entry into the war. He gave no justification for taking the well-known patriotic name. Either the Vigilance Committee was satisfied by Pitcher’s answer, or the end of the war on Nov. 11, 1918, made the tractor’s name a moot point. Regardless, the Liberty tractor entered the farm equipment market in fall 1918. The company motto declared ‘Liberty’ means freedom from tractor troubles.’ The Liberty Tractor was designed by. J. McVicar of the McVicar Engineering Company who was one of the best tractor experts of his day. It was kerosene fueled and sales began in 1918. The Liberty tractor weighed 5,775 pounds and used a four-cylinder Climax engine with a 15-30 hp rating, and was built to pull four 14-inch plows. The two fuel tanks held 20 gallons of kerosene and 5 gallons of gasoline for starting. In preparation for the North Dakota Tractor Demonstration in 1918 Pitcher called the Oliver Chilled Plow Works to obtain a four-bottom plow. They asked about the Liberty’s weight, and when told it was only about 5,800 pounds, they doubted it could pull such a plow. At the tractor tests one skeptical farmer offered to bet $1,000 that the Liberty tractor couldn’t pull four 14-inch breaker plows. Lucky for the farmer, no one accepted his bet. Despite the detractors, the Liberty tractor pulled the plows ‘steadily and easily,’ according to a Farm Implements and Tractors report about the tests. At the Fourth National Tractor Demonstration held July 1918, in Salina, Kan., the Liberty tractor pulled four 14-inch stubble plows for six days under a variety of conditions without stopping. Shortly thereafter, the Liberty set a record with a fuel-labor cost of 93.8 cents per acre at the northern Illinois Tractor Meet held in September 1919. Just as Pitcher predicted, the tractor beat the odds and proved all skeptics wrong. P.J. Downes Co. was the distributor for the Liberty Tractor and sales were very good. When P.J. Downes Co. went into receivership in 1921 due to the nationwide agricultural depression, Liberty tractors had no outlet. In fact, the Midland National Bank owned all the tractors in the Downes distributorship, and none were left for Liberty to sell. 3 4 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
