Century-Old Self-Propelled Combine Returns To Its Home State
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A rare 100-year-old Holt self-propelled combine caught the eye of Iowa machinery and toy collector Larry Maasdam in 1997. “I bought it from a guy in Oklahoma and immediately hauled it to the Ageless Iron machinery show in Ankeny, Iowa,” Maasdam says. “With the help of a farmer/mechanic in the audience that afternoon, who happened to have two spark plugs in his pocket, we got the engine running smoothly and the spectators loved it.”
Maasdam stored the machine inside a shed at the Heartland Museum in Belmond, Iowa for the next two decades, where visitors were amazed by its desgin and wondered how it could possibly harvest grain. He started and ran the engine occasionally to keep it lubricated. Eventually he decided to sell the combine and 4 Holt tractors to a collector in California. “They were a nice investment that I enjoyed owning, but now they’re back in the state where they were built,” Maasdam says.
The new owner is Josh Stephenson, a 3rd generation contractor who collects rare tracked machines, including Holt tractors. “The Holt company is well known for producing equipment in California that were used by early farmers, loggers and road construction crews,” Stephenson says. “The combine has a 55-hp. Holt 4-cyl. tractor engine and runs on one shortened version of a 15-in. wide tractor track similar to that on a 45-hp. Holt crawler powered by chain, with an opposing rear wheel that’s also chain-driven. It has a single tiller wheel in front for steering, similar to that on a 75 hp. Holt tractor. The harvester cut grain with a sicklebar and carried it by reel to the conveyor and elevator into a 24-in. cylinder, then through a 36-in. separator, all driven by dozens of chains and belts riding over pulleys and sprockets. The machine traveled at about 2 1/2 mph in high gear and harvested about 25 to 40 acres a day.”
Stephenson says the Holt company, which likely imported much of the oak wood used to build the combines from Eastern states, built about 300 of the machines between 1911 and 1921. His machine is one of only 4 or 5 of the surviving original operable Senior Self-Propelled Harvesters in existence, and he thinks it’s probably the only one that’s survived in such excellent condition.
Stephenson says from a historical standpoint the Holt is extremely rare. “Early harvesters were pulled by teams of several mules or horses, and this one is a self-propelled machine that could be adjusted and kept level for hillside use with a rack and pinion leveling mechanism. A crew of 5 men ran it, including the driver, a person manning the gearshift and drive clutch, another one adjusting wheels to level the harvesting platform, one or two reel operators, and another who sacked the grain. It must have been quite a sight to see it working,” Stephenson says. The combine runs well, even after being re-assembled from its Iowa-to-California trip.
As Holt Manufacturing faded with the illness and subsequent passing of company president Benjamin Holt in the early 1920’s, the company merged with the C.L. Best Tractor Company and was eventually renamed the Caterpillar Tractor Company.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Maasdam, Clarion, Iowa 50525 Josh Stephenson, P.O. Box 89156, Temecula, Calif. 92592 (ph 909 938-8600).
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Century-Old Self-Propelled Combine Returns To Its Home State COMBINES Miscellaneous A rare 100-year-old Holt self-propelled combine caught the eye of Iowa machinery and toy collector Larry Maasdam in 1997 “I bought it from a guy in Oklahoma and immediately hauled it to the Ageless Iron machinery show in Ankeny Iowa ” Maasdam says “With the help of a farmer/mechanic in the audience that afternoon who happened to have two spark plugs in his pocket we got the engine running smoothly and the spectators loved it ” Maasdam stored the machine inside a shed at the Heartland Museum in Belmond Iowa for the next two decades where visitors were amazed by its desgin and wondered how it could possibly harvest grain He started and ran the engine occasionally to keep it lubricated Eventually he decided to sell the combine and 4 Holt tractors to a collector in California “They were a nice investment that I enjoyed owning but now they’re back in the state where they were built ” Maasdam says The new owner is Josh Stephenson a 3rd generation contractor who collects rare tracked machines including Holt tractors “The Holt company is well known for producing equipment in California that were used by early farmers loggers and road construction crews ” Stephenson says “The combine has a 55-hp Holt 4-cyl tractor engine and runs on one shortened version of a 15-in wide tractor track similar to that on a 45-hp Holt crawler powered by chain with an opposing rear wheel that’s also chain-driven It has a single tiller wheel in front for steering similar to that on a 75 hp Holt tractor The harvester cut grain with a sicklebar and carried it by reel to the conveyor and elevator into a 24-in cylinder then through a 36-in separator all driven by dozens of chains and belts riding over pulleys and sprockets The machine traveled at about 2 1/2 mph in high gear and harvested about 25 to 40 acres a day ” Stephenson says the Holt company which likely imported much of the oak wood used to build the combines from Eastern states built about 300 of the machines between 1911 and 1921 His machine is one of only 4 or 5 of the surviving original operable Senior Self-Propelled Harvesters in existence and he thinks it’s probably the only one that’s survived in such excellent condition Stephenson says from a historical standpoint the Holt is extremely rare “Early harvesters were pulled by teams of several mules or horses and this one is a self-propelled machine that could be adjusted and kept level for hillside use with a rack and pinion leveling mechanism A crew of 5 men ran it including the driver a person manning the gearshift and drive clutch another one adjusting wheels to level the harvesting platform one or two reel operators and another who sacked the grain It must have been quite a sight to see it working ” Stephenson says The combine runs well even after being re-assembled from its Iowa-to-California trip As Holt Manufacturing faded with the illness and subsequent passing of company president Benjamin Holt in the early 1920’s the company merged with the C L Best Tractor Company and was eventually renamed the Caterpillar Tractor Company Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Larry Maasdam Clarion Iowa 50525 Josh Stephenson P O Box 89156 Temecula Calif 92592 ph 909 938-8600
