The Best Manufacturing Company (sometimes known as the ''Daniel Best Company'') of

San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

was a manufacturer of farm machinery, known for its

steam tractor :''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine'' A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling. In North America, the term ''steam ...

History

The company was formed in 1871 by

Daniel Best Daniel Best (March 20, 1838 – August 22, 1923) was an American adventurer, businessman, farmer, and inventor known for pioneering agriculture machinery and heavy machinery. Early years In 1839, Best's father, John, moved the family to Missour ...

. The company's initial product was a portable grain cleaner, soon followed by a combine harvester. In 1890, the company purchased the rights to manufacture the Remington steam engine, and produced a range of steam-driven farm machinery, including

s and combine harvesters. Around 1900 the company built a number of three wheeled road locomotives. The company was acquired by the

Holt Manufacturing Company The Holt Manufacturing Company began with the 1883 founding of Stockton Wheel Service in Stockton, California, United States. Benjamin Holt, later credited with patenting the first workable crawler ("caterpillar") tractor design, incorporated ...

in 1908 after a legal battle. C. L. Best, the son of the founder then formed his own rival company, the ''C. L. Best Gas Traction Company'' which built

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

-powered tractors. This new company acquired the rights to manufacture the

Lombard Steam Log Hauler The term Lombard refers to people or things related to Lombardy, a region in northern Italy. History and culture * Lombards, a Germanic tribe * Lombards of Sicily, a linguistic minority living in Sicily, southern Italy * Lombard League, a me ...

, an early tracked crawler, and began producing "tracklayer" tractors. Following fierce competition from the

Fordson Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to ...

company, C.L. Best merged with the

in 1925 to form the Caterpillar Tractor Company.

References

External links

*
Daniel Best Builds His First Steam Traction Engine Tractor
. Caterpillar.

Tractor manufacturers of the United States Former Caterpillar Inc. subsidiaries Companies based in San Leandro, California Defunct manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Manufacturing companies established in 1871 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1925 1871 establishments in California 1925 disestablishments in California History of San Leandro, California 1925 mergers and acquisitions {{AlamedaCountyCA-geo-stub