12498 14th Ave. K, Haney, British Columbia, Canada
Many people think the only tractors made in Canada were
Cockshutt or Massey-Harris-this is not so!
One of the first tractors was built about 1910 by
Canadian-American Gasoline Engine Co. at Dunville, Ontario. It was
a two cylinder horizontal engine, tank cooled. The ignition system
was low tension, make and break with the igniters inside the
cylinders and the current was by batteries. This tractor had a
unique starting system. The left hand flywheel had an internal
toothed ring inside the flywheel. A pinion meshed with this and a
hand crank was on the end. Lubrication of the cylinders was sight
feed, drip cup lubricators. The tractor was rated at 35 brake
horsepower.
The Robert Bell Company of Sea-forth, Ontario, a builder of
portable and traction steam engines and threshing machinery for
many years built two sizes of farm tractors in 1920. One was a
20-35 Hp. and the other 25-45 Hp. Both these tractors were of the
same design. The only difference was the size. They had a four
cylinder vertical engine and the cylinders were cast in pairs.
Magneto ignition was used. They had two speeds ahead and one
reverse. Lubrication was pump and splash.
1910 Canadian American Company Gasoline Engine.
Massey-Harris Company of Toronto built a tractor in 1918. It was
on extra high front and back wheels which gave it extra clearance.
It was rated at 12-25 Hp. It was a four cylinder vertical engine,
set crosswise of the frame. A similar tractor was the Parrett and
the Clydesdale, both built in U.S.A. This tractor had the belt
pulley on the left hand side. It would pull a three furrow fourteen
inch bottom plow.
About 1930, this company put out a four wheel drive. It did not
last very long as it was too awkward to handle. It had a four
cylinder vertical engine bolted to the front of the gear case which
stuck out ahead of the front drive wheels. There are one or two in
U.S.A. and I think there is one in Pioneer Museum at Wetaskiwin,
Alberta. These tractors were discontinued about 1935.
The Sawyer-Massey Company of Hamilton, California made gas
tractors from about 1912 until they went out of engine and thresher
business in the early 1920’s and started to make road
machinery.
Massey Harris tractor manufactured by the Massey-Harris Company
of Toronto, Ontario. Made in 1918, a 12-25 B. Hp. 4 CV.
This is one of the oldest steam engine and thresher companies in
Canada. It was originally the L. D. Sawyer Co. and they made a
return flue portable engine as early as 1885. Later on, they made a
traction engine and the tractor came later. They were all the same
design. The small one was 12-20 Hp. and a big 25-45 Hp. They all
had a four cylinder vertical engine with overhead valves, magneto
ignition, Madison sight feed pump lubricator. The engine was just
ahead of the rear axle. The flywheel and clutch at the front of the
engine, were radiator cooled and had a canopy-all except the small
one. The drive wheels were flat spoke, cross brace construction and
they could burn either gasoline or kerosene. The belt pulley was
geared down about 2 to 1, so did not run fast and reduced belt
slippage.
Gould-Sharpley and Muir Company of Brantford, Ontario made
stationary gasoline engines as early as 1900 and started to make
tractors about 1912 or earlier. They were all more or less the same
design-two cylinder horizontal opposed with right hand belt pulley
and toggle arm clutch in the belt pulley. These tractors had a
carburetor and magneto for each cylinder. The small ones were
hopper cooled and the larger ones (35-45 Hp. and 40-60 Hp.) were
radiator cooled. Some were hopper cooled. They were all gasoline or
kerosene burners. There is a 12-25 Hp. hopper cooled Gould Sharpley
and Muir in perfect condition in the Pioneer Museum.
About 1918, the horizontal engine was discontinued and a four
cylinder vertical engine with a friction drive was brought out.
This tractor was called the ‘Beaver’. The company went out
of business in the 1920’s.
The Gibson Mfg. Company of Guelph, Ontario built a standard type
tractor in 1918 and 1920. It was the Dixie Ace and had a four
cylinder vertical engine, was rated 10-20 Hp. and had a semi
eleptic spring under the front axle.
A Robert Bell 20-35 Hp. tractor from the Robert Bell Co., of
Seaf orth, Ontario.
McDonald Thresher Company of Stratford, Ontario was a firm that
had built steam tractors and threshers for a number of years and
went into the building of tractors during 1918. This was a four
cylinder vertical engine. The engine was built by Cushman Motors
and very little else is known about this tractor.
Waterloo Mfg. Company of Waterloo Ontario, one of the old line
of steam engine and thresher companies built a farm tractor in
1912. It was very much like the Sawyer-Massey. It had a four
cylinder vertical engine with overhead valves mounted over the back
axle. The clutch and gears were ahead of the motor, belt pulley was
on the right side and a canopy extended the full length of the
tractor. The tractor was tank and pump cooled, had round spokes in
the wheels and a high clearance under the axles. They were made for
only one or two years and then the company made more steam
engines.
One of the lesser known tractors was the Essex, built by Essex
Tractor Company of Essex, Ontario. It was the standard four wheel
type with four cylinder vertical engine and was rated at 10-20 Hp.
and was built in 1920.
The Alberta Foundry of Medicine Hat, Alberta built a kind of
tractor. It had four wheels and the drive wheels had wooden spokes.
The engine was a two cylinder horizontal and sat on a wooden frame.
The front wheels were cast iron. It was radiator cooled. One of
these tractors is in the Pioneer Museum at Wetaskiwin.
A 1916 25-45 Hp. 4 cyl. vertical engine of the Sawyer-Massey
Company of Hamilton, Ontario.
1918 12-24 Hp. 2 CO. Gould Sharpley and Muir engine – company at
Brantford, Ontario.
The ‘Dixie Ace’ – 1919, 10-20 Hp. 4 C.V. manufactured by
the Gilson Mfg. Co. of Guelph, Ont
The Chase tractor was built about 1918. It was unique, in that
the engine was not mounted on top of the frame, but was slung under
the frame. The engine was a four cylinder vertical one mounted
crosswise of the frame. The drive from the engine to the gear box
was by chain. Two drive wheels were at the rear and one wheel for
steering was at the front and an arrow was mounted above the wheel
so the driver could tell which way to go. Only two of these
tractors are left. One is at Milton, Ontario and the other at
Western Development Museum, Saskatoon.
The Cockshutt Plow Company, Brant-ford, Ontario put out a six
cylinder tractor in 1930. This tractor, like most others at that
time, was a standard four wheel type. The engine had magneto
ignition. It had a generator, battery of six volts and a starting
motor. It had three forward speeds and one reverse. The belt pulley
was on the right hand side.
Now, there are only the Cockshutt Company and the Massey-Harris
Company or as it is now the Massey-Ferguson Company making tractors
in Canada. All the others have either gone out of business or gone
into making other products.
While on the topic of tractors, very few people know that
International Harvester Company of Chicago made a steam tractor.
This was in 1920. It never got past the experimental stage, so was
never advertized and put on the market.
I have a collection of about twelve engines, all in good shape
and running. There are no two alike.
Pictured is my Bull’s Eye, 2 Hp. with side shaft. Wonder if
there is another one around? I would like to hear if there is
one.
It was the standard four wheel tractor with a box type condenser
at the front, assisted by a steam driven fan to turn the steam back
to water. The water tank was just in front of the boiler which was
oil-fired and presumably was a water tube type with a steam
pressure of 500 pounds per square inch. The engine was a four
cylinder V type uniflow with poppet valves. Steam was taken at one
end of the piston with only a piston rod connected to a crosshead
while worked in the bottom of the cylinder sleeve. The engine was
mounted above the rear axle. The steam from the exhaust port went
to the condenser and back to the tank. This tractor would pull a
three furrow, fourteen inch plow.
Model L9 Hp. Lister S/N21681 made about 1918 by R.A. Lister
& Co. Ltd, Dursley, England. This engine painted its nearly
original Bristol Green, mounted on trucks which came from a cement
mixer, drove a 10 in. Hammer mill two years ago.
MacDonald tractor manufactured by Cushman Motor Works of Canada.
It is a 1918, 12-25 Hp. 4 C.V.
A 4 cyl. V type uniflow steam tractor of 1920 manufactured by
the International Harvester Company of Chicago, Illinois.
