De Heider Manufacturing Company is opgericht

Heider
De Heider Manufacturing Company is opgericht door twee broers, Henry en John Heider.
In 1910 kwam hun eerste trekker model op de markt de trekker werd verkocht door de Rock Island Plow
Company.
In 1915 werd de Heider Manufacturing Company overgenomen door de Rock Island Plow Company.
In 1937 werd de Rock Island Plow Company overgenomen door J.I. Case Company.
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Zie voor meer informatie : www.rockislandplowco.com
Hieronder de geschiedenis zoals op bovenstaande website is te lezen.
The Heider Manufacturing Company was the brainchild of Henry J. Heider and his elder brother John from Troy Grove
IL. Henry Heider proved to be an able manufacturer and inventor, with his first patent already at the age of 21 for a
four-horse evener (the first of over 20) and a successful repair business. His elder brother John had left home for a
career in accounting and business, but in 1903 he and Henry decided to go into business together after Henry’s
business outgrew his capacity to run and still farm. With demand for the 4 horse evener strong, the brothers set up
shop in Albert Lea, Minnesota, but in short order outgrew this small shop. The decision to move to Carroll, Iowa meant
a full sized facility and the need for much expanded company. Henry remained in charge as president and chief of
manufacturing, L.C. Klein took over as V.P and in charge of sales, and John acted as secretary/treasurer. After
incorporating, $18,000 in stock was sold, mostly to locals, to finance the concrete block factory to be built in 1904.
Business at the Carroll plant consisted of eveners up to six horses, yokes, double and single trees. The company
even produced a line of step and extension ladders designed to use up scrap lumber that they sold across the
Midwest with their other goods. The ladders became so popular they ended up as a large part of the Heider business,
even being a major part of the reason to purchase a new 10 HP Lambert engine in 1906. Henry proved to be a
consummate inventor and tinkerer, often designing new parts and machines for the factory. Unlike many companies of
the day, day to day finances were never a major company problem as John proved to be an able manager and
accountant. However, these finances were not enough to finance the next major Heider expansion.
In 1907 the Heiders purchased another Lambert engine, this time a massive 25HP. For whatever reason, about the
same time Henry became interested in gas tractors. In “Humble beginning: History of the Heider Manufacturing
Company” by R.E. Hoffman (Antique Power July 1994) with John Heider; Hoffmann suggests that the Lambert may
have come with a brochure for the Lambert line of tractors. Lambert (also incorporated as the Buckeye Manufacturing
Company), although specializing in gas engines, was also producing friction drive tractors at the time. The
Smithsonian credits Lambert with the first friction drive transmission and Lamberts early tractors incorporated a
Morton Traction Chassis with Lamberts own engine. Certainly, it is hard to believe that it was pure coincidence that
Henry would follow so similar a path with his own early friction design.
According to Hoffman, the 1908 company ledger for the first time carried a section called “tractor account”. Henry
would move slowly in his development of a tractor design, creating and discarding multiple designs, including
according to Hoffman & Heider, a design similar to the later Moline Universal. One such early prototype (below)
reportedly remained in use at the plant for a time. Sometime in 1909-1910, a conventional, 4 wheel friction drive
design was settled on. According to records, sales of ~25 Heider A’s were made between March 1 1911 and 1912
according John Heider (Hoffman AP July 94), with only 9 having been produced by Oct 25, 1911 according to
the Carroll Herald. A major palnt expansion was also announced in 1911 in anticipation of increased sales. Outside
assistance from the Pioneer Implement Company of Council Bluffs IA helped bring the tractors to market and served
as a distributor for Heider. It’s likely they had already been selling Heider products with their own implement and
buggy business.
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Production continued with sales exceeding expectations with the Heider B introduced in 1912 (an improved version of
the A). The B proved a success and underwent various refinements but its shortcomings were readily apparent to
Henry. It soon became apparent that serious measures would be needed to keep up with demand, and so a new
partnership was sought with a major company with the resources to bring the new Model C to market. The Rock
Island Plow company fit the bill, and was also looking to add a tractor line to their extensive implement line. While the
last of the Heider B’s were being passed through the Rock Island Plow Company in 1915, the Heider C was also
coming into production.
The Heider C proved to be an incredibly popular tractor of the day, and Heiders Carroll, Ia facility soon found itself
unable to keep up with demand. Facing the prospect of a costly expansion, the decision was made to accept an offer
th
from the Rock Island Plow Company to purchase the Heider tractor line. The Jan 5 1916 Carroll Herald made the
announcement in an article that the tractor line would be split off of the Heider Company and be moved to Rock Island
with the purchase of the rights and patents as of Jan 1 1916. The Heider facility in Carroll would continue on with its
pre-tractor business making wood products (Henry Heider was even awarded a patent for the companies popular
coaster wagon (pat 138594)), and eventually making wagons and auger wagons until 1983. In 1983, the remaining
Heider family, free of debt, chose to leave the manufacturing business, selling it to the Wellbuilt Co (a division of
Scranton Mfg, Scranton, IA). 6).
The Rock Island Plow company, along with the rights to the Heider Name and tractor line, also retained Henry
Heider’s services as an engineer for $10,000 a year. Henry would remain with the company until 1922, engineering
along the way the Heider D, Heider Plow Lift, the model 70 tractor winch and the Heider M2 and M1 cultivator tractors.
Heider is often given credit for the Heider 15-27 as well, although it did not appear on the market until 1925, almost
three years after Henry left the company. However, the 15-27 appears to have been an update of the C design, and
not a completely updated design like the later Rock Islands or the last patent (#1,652,358) Henry applied for in 1922
for a friction driven, fully enclosed tractor. This 1922 patent also appears to have had a gear mechanism to allow a
field gear and road gear in addition to the standard fiber disk transmission
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Handgemaakt Model van Heider trekker
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