Holt/ Caterpillar Barn Find

Nice. I hope you guys can work out a fair deal and we see more of it.

Thanks guys, I think I may have found something rare here or lets say not as common, curious if any one might know what the value of one of these might be ( ball park) just don't want to get into it too deep!:ranger:

Nice Looking 2 Ton, The engine in them was ahead of its time, better than many of the later Flat head Cats.

I have a suspicion it is a 2 ton, looks like a 2 ton but says Holt on the radiator, early transition model?

I would hazard a guess that at this is an early Cat manufactured 2 Ton given the instruction plate and ser. plate both say caterpillar on them. Holts were called M35 models and they were renamed 2 tons after the merger. It was common for cat to use up Holt and Best castings in inventory after the merger or they were used as a replacements after tying with a tree. Holt, Best, and Cat would paint to order usually orange for municipalities, but the cat decal on the hood is from a later date so would require investigating to see if it were added later or if the tractor had been repainted. The Air cleaner assembly that sets between the brake peddles is missing is missing. Good luck with your find.

Hi, Whiteiron.
Nice find. Holt used the wavy 'Caterpillar' as a trademark almost from the original Holt #77 conversion and many Holt crawlers had it cast into the top radiator tank. The straight 'Caterpillar' stickers on the sides of the hood are from a later vintage machine. My guess is this machine would be pre-merger as I think the merged company adopted having '2-Ton' cast in down the sides of the radiator instead of 'Holt'.

But, in the words of the immortal Swishy, "Eye do stand 2 b kee-wreck-ted".

Just my 0.02.

white iron, the following was copied from a previous article - dating a 2ton discussion in 2014.
I believe it gives a good indication to dating the tractor, is the serial tag near the gear stick on the right hand side of the transmission?

Mike following up your post and another 2 ton viewed at the Lake goldsmith rally in Victoria last weekend, ( M35, motor 81040) made me look up an article in the ACMOC mag edition 54 of 2004.

An article on page 8 "simple compact crawler, Large complicated History:The story of Holts 2 ton" submitted by Lorry Dunning - historical Consultant Davis California. includes the following:
On March 31, 1921 the first contract between Hall-Scott motor car company and the Holt Manufacturing Company was signed for 100 experimental engines. in 1921 there were 53 T-35 (2TON) tractors built.
On December14,1921 a second contract with Hall-Scott was signed for 520 engines. On January 20, 1922 the 101st engine was completed with new features.
The third contract for 315 engines dated October 17, 1922 stipulated that at the end of production all blueprints, drawings and patterns be returned to Holt Mfg company.

Holt numbered all engines manufactured by Hall-Scott and designated it as the MS-35. The earliest tractor found to date was MS-35 S/N30014 ( tractor S/N unknown) with Hall-Scott engines ending in tractor S/N 25850 ( estimated).
In early 1923 the MS-35 engine designation changed to M-35. The 30,000 serial number series continued in consecutive order from the MS-35 to the M-35 engines.
In early 1924 2 ton production was moved from Stockton to Peoria. Tractor serial numbers changed from 25,000 series in Stockton to the 70,000 series in Peoria. Engine serial numbers changed from 30,000 in Stockton to 80,000 in Peoria. The M-35 designation was discontinued October 13, 1925 by letter of D.Ogden when engine numbering stopped at 81401. It appears that Waukesha Motor Company produced all the M-35 engines.

On August16, 1924 a letter was sent with engine dynamometer test results for engine M-35, S/N 80118 tractor S/N not designated. The article speculates that Holt Manufacturing Co. started to produce its own engines after engine number 81401. Caterpillar records indicate Col. George D. Babcock assigned tractor S/N 70001 to begin with M-35 engine S/N 80001 on April 16, 1925.
Article goes on regarding Stockton built tractors S/N 25003 - 26352 had riveted track frames without a top roller,( aftermarket available). All Peoria built tractors 70,001 - 78,989 had cast track frames with a top roller.
Before consolidation between Best and Holt in 1925, 393 tractors were produced. The first Caterpillar 2 Ton was S/N 70817.
Additional info on Holt casting, stencilling, valve covers etc in the detailed article covering six pages.