GM and Chrysler, make any tractors?

Son asked me this. I went blank, again. Anybody know? Thanks.

GM made Samson tractors early on, sometime before the 40s. Chevy inline 6 engines used in combines, etc into 70s. Detroit Diesel used in a few tractors.
Chrysler"s engines, transmissions, and (truck) rear ends were used in a few different makes prior to the 60s. Slant 6 used in JD windrowers at least in 70s.

others should have more info.

karl f

A few years ago I saw a GMC tractor at the calgery stampede. It looked to be from the late "30s or early "40s, I say that because of the letterig style on the name plate. It had a gmc six cly. engine. The guy that had it sad he only knew of only 2 or 3 of them. maybe a prototype tractor. Sure wasn"t a high production thing, but it sure looked factoy made. Ron

GM made tractors for a few years in the late teens/early 1920's with their acquisition of Samson Tractor Co. Samson tractors were mostly "odd balls" however. Examples:

Samson Iron Horse This had no seat or steering wheel - instead the driver walked behind/controlled it via reins, ala a horse.

The "Sieve Grip" - a more conventional tractor but with odd, open steel tread wheels that somewhat resembled sieves.

The Samson name (and tractors) was discontinued by GM in 1922 or '23.

While not complete tractors, in the 50's thru early 70's GM provided Detroit diesel engines for Oliver (99 GM, 1900 and 1950 GM), Case (371), John Deere (435, 8010), M-F (55?), Wagner (WA-2) and I'm sure several others.

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Chrysler never built complete tractors. A Chrysler flathead 6 however powered the Massey 101 Senior.

Euclid was a branch of General Motors. They built a lot of dozers and motorized earth moving equipment. They were all powered by GM diesel engines.

(quoted from post at 00:12:46 12/20/08) GM made tractors for a few years in the late teens/early 1920's with their acquisition of Samson Tractor Co. Samson tractors were mostly "odd balls" however. Examples:

Samson Iron Horse This had no seat or steering wheel - instead the driver walked behind/controlled it via reins, ala a horse.

The "Sieve Grip" - a more conventional tractor but with odd, open steel tread wheels that somewhat resembled sieves.

The Samson name (and tractors) was discontinued by GM in 1922 or '23.

While not complete tractors, in the 50's thru early 70's GM provided Detroit diesel engines for Oliver (99 GM, 1900 and 1950 GM), Case (371), John Deere (435, 8010), M-F (55?), Wagner (WA-2) and I'm sure several others.

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Chrysler never built complete tractors. A Chrysler flathead 6 however powered the Massey 101 Senior.

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Well, I can't say for sure who made it, but it does have the Plymouth name.

Plymouth tractors were built by Fate-Root-Heath of Plymouth Ohio. They changed the tractor name to Silver King but continued to use the Plymouth name on their industrial locomotives.
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel81.html

Jim, thanks! I guess that clears that up. And I really enjoyed the pictures in you link!

Bob,
I can only gey half the picture but it sure looks clean. Is it yours?
I would like to know exactly what color grey it is and the blue.
Thanks, Dell

(quoted from post at 14:38:33 12/20/08) Bob,
I can only gey half the picture but it sure looks clean. Is it yours?
I would like to know exactly what color grey it is and the blue.
Thanks, Dell

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I guess you are talking about the Plymouth that I, JMOR, posted. No it is not mine. I 'tried' to save that picture back in July-08, but didn't check the save until much later & now appears that I only captured half of it. It was among many tractor pictures that someone posted from a tractor show, I believe.
I have searched for the post, but never found it. Sorry.
There are 3 or 4 different pictures of Plymouth tractors on this YT site under 'Galleries', "Tractor Photos".

Slant six Chrysler engines were used in a lot of farm machinery. MF swathers and the smaller MF combines had them. Some MF equipment had Chevy four cyl. Some Gleaner combines had 250 cu. chevy. Some combines had chey V8 in them. Some MF combines had flathead Chrysler sixes also. A lot of the newer farm swathers came with Ford in-line sixes. These were before any deisel were used.

(quoted from post at 15:46:52 12/20/08)

(quoted from post at 14:38:33 12/20/08) Bob,
I can only gey half the picture but it sure looks clean. Is it yours?
I would like to know exactly what color grey it is and the blue.
Thanks, Dell

Click to expand...

I guess you are talking about the Plymouth that I, JMOR, posted. No it is not mine. I 'tried' to save that picture back in July-08, but didn't check the save until much later & now appears that I only captured half of it. It was among many tractor pictures that someone posted from a tractor show, I believe.
I have searched for the post, but never found it. Sorry.
There are 3 or 4 different pictures of Plymouth tractors on this YT site under 'Galleries', "Tractor Photos".

Click to expand...

HEY! I found it! and you can use that link to view more.

The plymouth tractor in the picture in these posts are nothing to do with the old Plymouth cars or Chrysler. I had somebody tell me there was a law suit over the name and that was the reason for the Siver King name as a result of that. Can't say if it is true or not.

(quoted from post at 18:36:27 12/20/08) The plymouth tractor in the picture in these posts are nothing to do with the old Plymouth cars or Chrysler. I had somebody tell me there was a law suit over the name and that was the reason for the Siver King name as a result of that. Can't say if it is true or not.

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Silver King tractors were produced by the Fate-Root-Heath Company of Plymouth, Ohio. The company was founded by John Fate in 1884 and was originally called the "J.D. Fate Company". After several mergers over the years, the final company name of Fate-Root-Heath came about in 1919. The first tractor produced was actually called the "Plymouth" tractor and was powered by a 20 HP 4-cylinder engine with a 3x4" bore and stroke. The four speed transmission had a top speed of 25 mph! After more than 200 of these were built, the Chrysler Corporation who had begun making a "Plymouth" car sued the Fate-Root-Heath company for the right to use the "Plymouth" name. It was decided that since the Chrysler Corporation manufactured their car MANY years after Fate-Root-Heath made their tractor, that Chrysler Corp was not entitled to the exclusive use of the "Plymouth" name. To make a long story short, Fate-Root-Heath did not want to tangle with such a large corporation and hence sold the "Plymouth" name to Chrysler Corp for a single dollar bill!

I find this all very fascinating. The Plymouth Tractor obviously had to be renamed. The name "Silver King" was decided upon during a board meeting and according to one story, they felt it was the "King" of all tractors and there also happened to be a bouquet of silver plant leaves in the room which is how the final name came about.

Only 8600 or so Silver Kings were produced between the years of 1934 and 1954. Most were silver in color, although a few produced for the Ohio highway department were yellow or orange. Most of these tractors were used by farmers for general farm use. Supposedly they were the first tractors to use rubber tires.

Many different models were produced and we cannot find a complete list of them. Some of the models we have been able to dig up are: The 380, 400, 340, 600, 660 and the 720. Each model was just a little different from the other. Reportedly, one year 10 different models were made! The two main configuration differences were the 3-Wheel Row Crop (with a single front wheel) and the 4-Wheel Standard (with a wide front end).

Source:

http://www.ytmag.com/profiles/skngprof.htm

Thanks gentlemen for excellent information.