New Holland Hit and Miss Engines
New Holland Machine Co. Factory and Main Office engraving. Most likely used in a brochure or advertisement.
These four 1-1/2 Horse Power engine photos appear to have been taken to be used in a catalog or advertising material. The striping appears to be in white paint to contrast with the engine for publication purposes. The first two have the 1-1/8" machined side face and the last two have the 1/2" machined side face. We are not sure why the engine is on a high wheel truck simular to the common 11 Truck design using four large wheels compared to the later 11 Truck which used smaller two sized wheels. The battery box also appears to be larger than later designs. Perhaps the larger battery box held four Edison Type V wet batteries which was a factory option. Time frame is sometime after April 7, 1903. We are looking for an example of this high wheel truck. These photos are courtesy of the Rough & Tumble Engineers Historical Association Archives, Kinzers, Pa.
This website was created to share information about New Holland hit-and-miss engines and equipment manufactured by New Holland Machine Company, New Holland, PA. The site contains a timeline, newspaper articles, advertisements and sales literature for the engines, feed mills, rock crushers, wood saws and information about founder Abraham Zimmerman.
Select the links above to navigate to the different topics of information available.
This site will be a work in progress, so check back often for updates. Please let us know if you have additional literature or other information that can be shared with other New Holland enthusiasts. The following is examples of recent information that has been added.
The oldest known New Holland 1-1/2 HP engine was #14 which was used in several New Holland publications.
This particular engine had noticeable wider machined face on the side of the flywheel from the outer rim to the flywheel spokes. #14 had the raised April 3 1903 patent dates on the side of the hopper and was probably made soon after this 1903 date. The heavy machined side face (2-1/2”) was quickly reduced to a width of 1-1/8” and then later reduced again to a width of ½”. The reduction is presumed to have saved production time.
#14 was on a presumed reproduction truck as there were noticeable differences which include pipe axles vs 1” steel axles, 4 spoke wheels vs 6 spoke wheels and the sill height were higher than a #11 truck. The #14 fixed axle had higher wood bolsters than the #11 truck. The early 1-1/2 HP New Holland user manual did not have #14 style truck shown.
The Sperry New Holland Museum was created in the mid-1970s and located in #16 factory building. #14 was displayed in this museum.
The 1983’ish staged photo of #14 belted to a #6 mill was taken at Compass Mill located on Lititz Run slightly east of Lititz. This photo was used in the 1984 Sperry New Holland calendar as the leading calendar photo.
In 1986 Sperry Corporation sold to Ford – renamed from “Sperry New Holland” to “Ford New Holland”. Ford management did not see a need for a museum so it was disbanded. After the museum disbandment #14 was carried to the second floor of the Operations Center building.
The #14 photo was also used on page 7 of the “1995 New Holland Our First 100 Years 1895-1995” glossy publication. The same photo was used on the cover and page 4 of the “New Holland news” April 2001 issue which was an employee glossy magazine.
At some point #14 was moved from the Operations Center and was placed in the Kishacoquillas Valley Historical Society Museum in Belleville, Pa. This museum had a fire October 9, 2014 with many New Holland items being fire damaged. The museum scraped the fire damaged items, including #14.
This information was provided and confirmed by a retired New Holland employee who has extensive knowledge of New Holland hit and miss engines, mills, saws and many other items from the Sperry and Ford New Holland time frames.
The engine in the following two photos could be the same engine in the immediately above photos as the paint striping appears to be the same. Time frame is sometime after April 7, 1903. The flywheel machined side face is 1-1/8" wide on this particular engine.
Railroad flatcars on the New Holland Machine Company siding on the southern side of the factory.
New Holland R.R. Station east of the stockyards adjacent to the New Holland Machine Company building showing "New" painted on the end of the building. Two boxcars adjacent to the factory on the siding.
The following two photos appear to be a different 1-1/2 engine due to the difference paint striping. Time frame is sometime after April 7, 1903.
The flywheel machined side face is 1/2" wide on this particular engine.
The story of #14 1-1/2 HP New Holland Engine
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