Benjamin Holt

Benjamin Holt came from a family that ran a hardwood lumber and wagon business in New Hampshire and California. Growing up around wagon building and heavy transport gave him the mechanical experience behind his continuous track design.

Caterpillar was created by the 1925 merger of two competing California tractor makers, one founded by Benjamin Holt and the other by C. L. Best. In the late 19th century the steam tractors used in California's San Joaquin Valley could weigh as much as 40 tons and often sank into the soft, peaty soil of the delta. In 1904 Holt removed the iron wheels from a steam tractor and fitted a continuous track of wooden planks bolted to chains. The track spread the machine's weight over a larger area, so it could cross soft ground. During a test, a company photographer remarked that the machine crawled 'like a caterpillar'. Holt trademarked the name and built up the Holt Manufacturing Company. His main rival was C. L. Best, whose C. L. Best Gas Traction Company built smaller tracked machines with gasoline engines. Holt's track design influenced the first British tanks in World War I. After the war both companies were in financial difficulty as military contracts ended and debts mounted. In 1925 their financial backers arranged a merger that formed the Caterpillar Tractor Co., combining Holt's trademark and factories with Best's gasoline engines and dealer network.

Benjamin Holt was born in 1849 in Concord.