Steam In Transition: A History of the Nichols and Shepard Company and the Port Huron Engine and Thresher Company
(Page 5 of 9)
May/June 2001
Charles O. Olsen,
The relatively swift turnabout in sales resulted in an attempted
takeover of the company in 1902. A group of Indiana businessmen had
traveled the Midwest and purchased a few agricultural manufacturing
firms; moreover, these companies had been absorbed and incorporated
into a single entity called the Thresher Trust. The Port Huron
Company called a meeting of all stockholders to ponder the question
of whether to sell out. The Secretary-Treasurer was so positive
that the company would be sold, that he presented several
possibilities to promote new businesses. However, Eugene and Edward
Moak, along with Edgar Vaness, addressed the stockholders and
proposed to remain in Port Huron and expand the business into other
areas such as manufacturing sawmills and corn shellers. The
stockholders embraced this alternate proposal, and voted to
purchase 40 acres of land on the St. Clair River from the Electric
Light Railroad Company.
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This location was ideally situated near the river and rail lines
and also was served by an electric streetcar. By 1902, three new
buildings had been constructed. The largest facility was 300 feet
long and housed the thresher works. Extra space in this complex was
allocated for new offices, a medical facility to treat work related
injuries, and a post office. Electrified overhead cranes carried
heavy iron tonnage which resulted in greater efficiency and worker
productivity.18
Regional market expansion became a reality during 1905, as
branch houses sprang up in Des Moines, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebraska;
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Peoria, Illinois; and Logansport,
Indiana. A large staff of trained mechanics present out on the road
to effect repairs on all lines of Port Huron machinery. This
practice, also called experting, became commonplace in the tractor
industry. Looking to tap into foreign markets to secure contracts,
Port Huron had early success in the South American markets, but
collecting monies became difficult if not impossible; thus this
venture proved not to be as lucrative as first envisioned by the
company.
Like other traction engine manufacturers. Port Huron was forced
to complement their existing line through the development of a
gasoline tractor. The Port Huron gas tractor materialized in 1915,
after nearly three years of planning. All components were produced
by the company, with the exception of the engine, which was
purchased from an outside source. Unfortunately, the basic design
of the tractor, particularly the drive train, proved to be so poor,
that hardly any farmers wanted one. Instead of employing a standard
gear to gear transmission, Port Huron engineers incorporated a
friction drive mechanism which consisted of rotating fiber disks
driving against each other at perpendicular angles. When the
tractor was under a load, these disks produced excessive slippage
and disengaged the drive train. High fuel consumption and spark
plug fouling compounded the miseries of this seemingly cursed
tractor.19 Very few were built between 1917 and 1921 and
none are known to exist in this world today.
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