#5 Holt 2 Ton Tractor

 

At over 5000 pounds, this tractor might seem big and heavy to the average person, but the Holt 2 Ton Tractor was actually considered to be very small when it was first manufactured in 1921.  As California crops became more specialized, smaller farm equipment was more desirable and more cost effective.  Up until the release of the Holt 2 Ton Tractor, farming smaller farms, orchards, and vineyards was very difficult with a typical large tractor which was unable to easily fit underneath tree branches and through vineyard rows.

 

Ads about the tractor claimed that although the size, fuel consumption, ground pressure, and operating costs were low, it was actually a big tractor in terms of its impressive traction, long life, and ability to get work done.  The 2 Ton Tractor design was extremely popular, and was produced by Holt until 1925.  Once the Caterpillar Tractor Co. was started, Caterpillar tweaked the Holt 2-Ton design, and continued making similar tractors under the name of the Caterpillar 2-Ton tractor until 1928.  Eventually, a smaller Caterpillar 20 would replace this small, yet influential, tractor.