Monarch Tractor Models

PAUL TOFIELD continues his tale about the growth of Allis-Chalmers in construction equipment. Last month he wrote about the Monarch Tractor Corporation, which it bought very soon after reviving its ailing unprofitable agricultural tractor division. Now he looks at Monarch’s models

A selection of tractors has survived into preservation in the United States and Canada. There is a wide range of colour schemes to be seen, and a series of different model designations. Perhaps this is a result of the Monarch tractor being built under four different ownerships in 13 years and the regular re-financing of the brand. Add in the possibility that there was more than one production site and different engines appear to have been fitted into the same chassis design: a model history is hard to determine.

Monarch tractors were considered reliable and there is a record of an early machine still working in the late 1940s.

The 1916 Lightfoot

At 1250kg, this small crawler was listed with a four-cylinder Kermath engine in 1918. It may not have survived past 1918 and was targeted at small family farms. Rated at 6-12, 6 drawbar/12 belt horsepower initially, the model continued as the 7-12 and was still advertised in mid-1919.

The Neverslip Range

Again, the earliest reference for these tractors in 1916. The 12-20 model was powered by a four-cylinder Erd engine (The Erd Engine Co of Sarginsaw, Michigan, operated from 1909 to 1923). The layout of these tractors was unconventional. The engine was in front of the operator, the transmission was located between the engine and the front radiator. The drive sprockets were at the rear of the undercarriage and they were driven via exposed roller chains from small diameter roller chain sprockets on braked shafts from the transmission. It was possible to alter the speed ranges of the tractors by changing these sprockets, say from 9 to 11 teeth. The 12-20 model used two track rollers, described as trucks in the sales literature, and the name continued to be used by Allis-Chalmers for this component.