Articles : Issue # 33: Cletrac Model E

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Date Posted October 01, 2009

News Title Issue # 33: Cletrac Model E

The concept of a general-purpose crawler tractor wasn’t a new idea for the Cleveland Tractor Company in 1934. The company had enjoyed success with the Cletrac Model F about a dozen years earlier. Several different push-type cultivators had been developed to use with this small tractor making it a handy tool for weed removal.

Several years ago, my friend Wilbur Lutz and I were showing our Cletrac crawler tractors at the Harrisburg Farm Show. A question that was often asked by the people attending, “What were these crawlers used for?” I always like Wilbur’s answer, which was “Anything you would use a wheel tractor for and more.” This was certainly a true statement if you owned a Cletrac model E like Wilbur and his family did.

In the early 1930’s the question was put to George Douglas Jones, Cletrac’s Agricultural Engineer. “Jones, how long are you going to let these wheeler fellows get all the business based on a tractor’s ability to cultivate row crops?” G.D. Jones took this challenge serious and thus the Cletrac model E was born.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s the Farmall tractor proved to be a good all-purpose tractor that would easily cultivate row crops eliminating the need for horses on the farm. Other companies followed suit with their row crop tractors taking care to work around the Farmall patent. The Oliver Farm Equipment Company developed their famous Oliver Row Crop tractor with tiptoe steel wheels and its versatile pipe frame mounting for various implements in addition to a cultivator.

Cletrac saw that in order to compete with these general purpose wheel tractors, a general purpose crawler tractor must be developed that had the ability to cultivate row crops in addition to being an all season farm tractor. The answer was the Cletrac model E which would be built in more variations than any other Cletrac tractor. It was built in 31”, 38”, 62”, 68” and 76” gauges. A 42” gauge was added in 1938 and the 76” gauge was then discontinued. Also in 1937 a high clearance model was added and it could be purchased with a diesel engine.

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Copyright © 2006 Oliver Heritage
http://www.oliverinformation.com

Date Posted	October 01, 2009
News Title	Issue # 33: Cletrac Model E
The concept of a general-purpose crawler tractor wasn’t a new idea for the Cleveland Tractor Company in 1934. The company had enjoyed success with the Cletrac Model F about a dozen years earlier. Several different push-type cultivators had been developed to use with this small tractor making it a handy tool for weed removal. Several years ago, my friend Wilbur Lutz and I were showing our Cletrac crawler tractors at the Harrisburg Farm Show. A question that was often asked by the people attending, “What were these crawlers used for?” I always like Wilbur’s answer, which was “Anything you would use a wheel tractor for and more.” This was certainly a true statement if you owned a Cletrac model E like Wilbur and his family did. In the early 1930’s the question was put to George Douglas Jones, Cletrac’s Agricultural Engineer. “Jones, how long are you going to let these wheeler fellows get all the business based on a tractor’s ability to cultivate row crops?” G.D. Jones took this challenge serious and thus the Cletrac model E was born. In the 1920’s and 1930’s the Farmall tractor proved to be a good all-purpose tractor that would easily cultivate row crops eliminating the need for horses on the farm. Other companies followed suit with their row crop tractors taking care to work around the Farmall patent. The Oliver Farm Equipment Company developed their famous Oliver Row Crop tractor with tiptoe steel wheels and its versatile pipe frame mounting for various implements in addition to a cultivator. Cletrac saw that in order to compete with these general purpose wheel tractors, a general purpose crawler tractor must be developed that had the ability to cultivate row crops in addition to being an all season farm tractor. The answer was the Cletrac model E which would be built in more variations than any other Cletrac tractor. It was built in 31”, 38”, 62”, 68” and 76” gauges. A 42” gauge was added in 1938 and the 76” gauge was then discontinued. Also in 1937 a high clearance model was added and it could be purchased with a diesel engine. To read the entire story, subscribe to Oliver Heritage.
Copyright © 2006 Oliver Heritage http://www.oliverinformation.com