The Aultman & Taylor Company
(Page 4 of 10)
May/June 2002
Dr. Lorin E. Bixler
In 1878 the Aultman & Taylor Company was one of the largest
builders of threshing machinery in the country. From 1868 through
1880, with the exception of one year (1878), they were able to fill
all of the orders for their machinery. During those years they were
compelled to increase production several times to meet the demands
for their machinery. This was accomplished by working extra time
and by the enlargement of their working force.
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Then, too, in order to achieve increased production it became
necessary to add extensions to their plant, such as shops,
warehouses, offices, and yards. These additions increased the total
area to 35 acres.
Another interesting set of figures portrays the magnitude of the
firm's business. In 1867 the company used $200 worth of postage
stamps while the firm's expenses for postage in 1880 were over
$5,000. It should be remembered that this was many years before any
increase in postage occurred.
The Tractors
The successful development of the gasoline automobile gave rise
to a demand for a gasoline tractor capable of replacing the steam
engine as a source of power. The first record of the Aultman &
Taylor Company's interest in the building of a tractor was
evidenced by action taken by the board of directors on July 1,
1906. At that meeting a committee was appointed, the members of
which were Arnold Kalmerten, James Reynolds, and G.W. Gans. That
committee was instructed to investigate the merits of a certain
patent for a gasoline engine in which Kalmerten was
interested.3 Apparently the idea of building an Aultman
& Taylor tractor had its origin in the mind of one man,
Kalmerten.
8 HP Aultman & Taylor owned by Vic Johnson. Photo taken by
Dr. Robert T. Rhode at the National Threshers Association Reunion
at Wauseon, Ohio, June 29, 1996.
The committee was empowered to formulate a plan for adoption, if
the committee were to deem it advisable to build and sell such a
gasoline engine, or tractor. The committee was invested with the
power to act, and so no report of the committee was ever made to
the board of directors. However, later events show that the
committee must have considered the plan to have had merit and so
proceeded to act. Yet, four years elapsed following the appointment
of the committee before the company's first tractor was built.
It was manufactured during 1910, sold, and shipped to Fargo, S.D.,
where it was tested.4
16 HP Aultman & Taylor # 9300 owned by John W. Griffeth.
Photo taken by Dr. Robert T. Rhode at the Tuscarawas Valley Pioneer
Power Association Show at Dover, Ohio, Aug. 16, 1997.
The firm's first tractor, Number 1, nicknamed 'Old
Trusty,' was sold by F.W. Galland on July 4, 1910. By 1920 that
tractor had plowed 10,000 acres and was used for threshing each
fall. It was still running well in 1920.5
Following the testing of that tractor, the company placed its
tractors on the market. In 1910 the executive committee of the
board of directors was authorized to build in lots of 25 from time
to time as the conditions of the trade required. The records do not
show the number of tractors that the company built each year.
However, the executive committee was authorized to build 160 in
1915, 224 in 1916, and 300 in 1917. A fair estimate of the total
number of tractors built would be approximately 4,500. The firm
produced more tractors in the 30-60 size than in any of the other
sizes.
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