the kl bulldog tractor

KL-Bulldog
Uit Wikipedia, de vrije encyclopedie
De Lanz Bulldog type D9506 werd in Australië nagemaakt door de Kelly an Lewis Company. Deze
firma was sinds 1930 importeur van Lanz.. Vanwege het feit dat tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog
de aanvoer van nieuwe trekkers stagneerde besloten ze om een eigen versie van de 40 pk sterke
Lanz Bulldog te maken. Hiervoor zetten ze een fabriek op in Springvale (Victoria).
De tractor was, op een paar visuele details na, volledig identiek aan de Lanz Bulldog D9506. In
1949 rolde de eerste KL-Bulldog van de band en dit ging door tot 1954. Rond deze tijd
produceerde Lanz namelijk een verbeterde versie van de tractor waardoor het behoorlijk moeilijk
werd voor de Kelly and Lewis Company om hun voorraad te verkopen. De KL-Bulldog tractor was
gemakkelijk te herkennen aan zijn dieprode kleur. Ook deze tractoren waren (net als de Lanz
Bulldog) kwalitatief goed en betrouwbaar. In totaal zijn er zo'n 900 KL-Bulldog tractoren
geproduceerd.
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THE K.L. BULLDOG TRACTOR
Kelly & Lewis of Springvale, Victoria (an outer suburb of Melbourne) first announced to the public in late
November 1945 that they intended to manufacture a tractor "of similar pattern" to the pre-war German built
Lanz Bulldog tractors that K.L. Distributors Pty. Ltd. (a subsidiary of Kelly & Lewis) were the sole
Australian agents for. They sold these hot bulb
ignition, crude oil burning Lanz tractors from 1934 until the outbreak
of WW2. The Lanz 35hp "N" model proved the most popular of the
Lanz tractors sold in Australia, so Kelly & Lewis had initial plans
already under way before the outbreak of WW2 to build a copy of
this tractor in Australia. Design work on the K.L. tractor was started
before the end of WW2, various Blueprint drawings such as the
original May 1945 crankshaft drawing survive today in preservation.
The initial idea was to build an assembly factory close to the existing
Kelly & Lewis works at Springvale, sub-contracting as much
component parts as possible to outside contractors. Parts were to
supposedly arrive ready for assembly at Springvale, but supply and
faulty parts was an ongoing problem which was never overcome and
contributed to the demise of the whole K.L. tractor project.
KL hot bulb engine
The immediate post-war period saw the Government of the time offer
substantial "start up funds and incentives" to encourage local tractor production, (to be repaid once profits
flowed). Not wanting to split up all available machine tools at its disposal the Government instead
contracted to supply machined castings from the Government ordnance factories at Bendigo and
Maribyrnong in Victoria. Earlier design work of the K.L. tractor was carried out in premises at North
Melbourne while the assembly factory at Springvale was being built. A prewar Lanz 35hp "N" tractor was
dismantled for the purpose of measurements, along with the use of German blueprints that were obtained
which were converted to English. Part of the Government help also included a casting plant factory at
Hobart in Tasmania, K.L. only leased this from the Government which supplied grey iron castings for
machining at places like Bendigo and Maribyrnong. The first completed production K.L. tractor came off
the Springvale production line on 21st of September 1948, and was completed just in time for display at the
Later production K.L. tractor at Melbourne Show, early 1950's, note the pressed steel fence post in the
forground, another KL product
Melbourne Show. An official opening was held on March 16th 1949 which made newspaper headlines (not
front page). The K.L. tractor was so close a copy of the pre-war Lanz "N" 35hp that over 90% of parts
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would readily interchange, the main difference being the rpm lifted from 540 to 600 on the K.L tractor, this
increased horse power availabe to a maximum of 44 on the belt.
Company archives show that many problems were encountered, early
and ongoing production was held up by a mixture of initial casting
faults and also later machining faults, this required some parts to be
imported from the German Lanz works. At times this included such
parts as crankcase, gear case, piston and various other small parts.
Production estimates by the K.L. management and also the
Government of the time were way out, encouraged by Government
statistics K.L. stated very boldly in late 1948 that demand would be
1,000, then 10,000, some months later production of up to 17,000
tractors per year was also mentioned. After consideration K.L. then
geared up to make 1,000 tractors in total. This was much more
conservative, especially with the reappearance of the Lanz tractors in
later 1949 with K.L. as their agents again. By this time it was settled
that "K.L. TRACTOR SALES Pty, Ltd" would handle sales and parts
for both K.L. and Lanz tractors, "K.L. TRACTORS Ltd" was by now
another separate subsidiary of Kelly & Lewis.
Sales Brochure
Front page of sales brochure
The supply and faulty parts problems continued in the production
of the K.L. tractor over the years 1949 to 1952, some later
production tractors were even delivered new with an oversize
piston due to a supply batch of inaccurately bored cylinders. The
majority of the K.L. tractors were built in 1950 and 1951 which
generated profits of some £10,310 and £22,300, 1952 saw a market
down turn as the post war demand was now becoming filled,
production was finally suspended in early December 1952 after
building a total of just over 860 tractors. At this time K.L. tractors'
liabilities of £357,384 exceeded assets by over £37,000, without a
replacement tractor of a more modern design not even at a drawing
stage K.L. Tractors was by now in deep financial trouble it would
never recover from. The parent company Kelly & Lewis had many
subsidiaries into which profits were generated for shareholders, the
tractor venture being just a small part of annual income.
The Hobart foundry closed immediately with the suspension of tractor production and steps were taken to
sell stock, assets and equipment at the Springvale factory. Most of the factory space was soon leased by the
adjoining parent company Kelly & Lewis for a large engineering and fabrication contract. The Government
soon stepped in and demanded repayment of £107,000 for the purchase of machine parts made by the
Commonwealth ordnance factories between April 1948 and June 1952. In 1953 as the months went by, K.L.
tried to come to an amicable settlement through negotiating with the Commonwealth, but this proved
impossible. By mid 1953 K.L. Tractors Ltd, filed a claim with a writ of £275,000 against the
Commonwealth for faulty parts supplied and for late delivery. In early 1954 a court order wound up K.L.
Tractors Ltd with shareholders losing their money. The initial backer of the whole K.L. tractor project, the
E.S.& A. bank (now ANZ) was the biggest loser.
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By February 1953 Lanz Australia had set up with its head
office in Sydney, Kelly & Lewis still being agents in some
states, including Victoria. Sales of the new generation alloy
piston full-diesel Lanz tractors (initially 17 to 28HP models D1706, D2206 and D2806) started in Australia from around
April 1953, followed later by the (D3206 "K") and (D3606
"O"). The hot bulb ignition Lanz Bulldog tractors still being
sold after the suspension of K.L. tractor production, but had
lost favor to more modern designs from their opposition. Mid
1955 saw the release of the more powerful range of the full
diesel 50 and 60hp new generation alloy piston Lanz tractors,
these were models D5006, D5016, D6006 and D6016 and were
better known in Australia as models R, DR, T, and DT.
For further information relating to this unique Australian
tractor contact –
KL advertisement
Craig Pink
C/- Post Office
Beeac Vic 3251
Australia
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KL BULLDOG
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KL Bulldog model van SIKU
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