Holt M35

Hi George,
I had some discussion on this with Owen Triggell.
It seems this is just the engine (M for MOTOR) Serial No and is usually different to the actual Tractor Serial No. Cat did this again in later years.
Our guess was that as the engines were Hall-Scotts, then, this is their Serial No as supplied to Holt. If I recall correctly there was some literature Owen had from you with some tractor numbers versus engine M numbers. Yes, I also cannot find the literature from Owen and some I have of the S/No's from both plates of my last Holt T35 which had an M No on the engine plate and the usual 70,000 S/No on the tractor plate. The plates seem to phase out after the merger of Holt and Best when the tractors went from being Holt's to being true Caterpillar's.

I stand to be corrected on these ideas.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

Eddie B., perhaps I misunderstood the metal tag. It says: M35 Model, and I thought it meant the model of the tractor. You indicate it means the model of the engine. Your response makes sense. Are there any other thoughts out there? GWH

Eddie B., perhaps I misunderstood the metal tag. It says: M35 Model, and I thought it meant the model of the tractor. You indicate it means the model of the engine. Your response makes sense. Are there any other thoughts out there? GWH

My records concur with edb's. M35 was the engine model number. It was a Hall-Scott engine, 4" bore x 5.5" stroke with 1000 RPM speed. The engine had valve in head and overhead camshaft. M35 serial numbers were 80001 thru 81401, assigned by HOLT. Additional engines were made for the T35 tractor after 81401, but the practice of a separate engine serial number was dropped in October 1925 (about 6 months after the merger forming Caterpillar).

Thank you Kent and Bruce Oz. I'm wondering to what extent records exist of production by serial numbers for earlier Holt models, such as the Holt 75 or 45. There has been something previously written to the effect that the records were destroyed. Not sure if that is Holt or Best. GWH

George: I have a good deal of HOLT information. What do you need to know?

Good Wednesday Morning, Kent. I'll give you a phone call. We haven't talked in some time. GWH