A rare pairing of Holts

For more than 20 years our Holt Hillside Harvester at the Vista Museum has been in its custom built barn needing mechanical attention and some wood repair. I have been talking up the Harvester to the Chapter 16 members in drumming up interest in getting her operational. What better way than pairing a 1917 Holt Hillside Harvester with a 1917 Holt 75 Tractor and pulling her out into the daylight. We definitely got a crowd as we were pulling it out. If you are in the So Cal area come stop in this weekend during our show and check it out in person. We will be put her back in the barn this Sunday. Thanks to all the Chapter 16 members that made this happen. Hopefully those Chapter 16 members that visit this page will contribute their photos and video of the occasion. Just thinking about it, the last Holt 75 Tractor that was paired to the Harvester was Don Hunters 1917 Holt 75 Tractor, about 25 years or so ago.

Thanks for posting these. Really neat.

My Grandpa told about a neighbor that had that very same combination. They only ran it a few years, then switched back to horses because they couldn't afford the gas the Holts burned. Apparently you could hear the combine and tractor for miles. I suppose it was one of the first gas tractors around.

BP

I have pictures of this but have not had time to unload them yet. The Chapter 16 members pictured in front of the harvester- Yours truly, Carl von Seggern, Virgil White, Josh Stevenson, Scotty Graham, Andrew Holemo (an ACMOC scholarship applicant getting ready to start training with Hawthorne Machinery) Robt. Richardson, Angelo Cappos, and Tom Vessco. I figured that since many of us crossed paths recently at Santa Margarita, it was worth identifying the "cast of characters".

I thought this was special seeing 100 year old Caterpillar Heritage machines in motion!

JanM