Happy Birthday Elmer Pond

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Are you a Horse-A-Holic?  Of course you are or you wouldn’t be reading this!

The man responsible for our addiction to silly little red tractors was born 127 years ago on November 13, 1898. Elmer Pond received an eighth-grade education and went on to found one of the most successful lawn and garden equipment companies in the United States.

The Pond Tractor Company had its humble beginnings in a 20’ X 22’ garage where Elmer Pond would paint and assemble Speedex walk behind Garden Tractors for his brother Harold. Elmer and his son Cecil soon made the decision that they could build a better-quality garden tractor and set about designing a four wheeled small tractor in 1946. Since the Pond name was already in use by Harold Pond a new name was needed. Since the wheel horse on horse-drawn equipment was always the strongest horse Cecil deemed that Wheel Horse was an appropriate name.

At the time all of their tractors were hand built by father and son in the same garage and several variations occurred depending on parts availability. The earliest models of the Pond riding tractor had lever steering (probably about 50 were made). Ford Model A drivetrain parts were used on the “Ride Away” as was the case with many early garden tractor manufacturers of that time. In 1948 they moved into their new 28’ by 80’ factory and sales office and a two wheeled walk behind tractor was added to the line and the riding tractor got an upgrade to the newer Ford V8 transmission and a more powerful 8.3 HP Wisconsen engine from the previous 6.1 HP unit.

With the growth of the company came the task of developing a dealership network. Cecil Pond added a platform to his 1935 Ford and would deliver two wheeled tractors to interested dealers, primarily feed stores and hardware stores, as well a county fairs.

In 1954 the Ponds added a reversing device to the walk-behind tractors and began development of a smaller riding garden tractor. The “Ride-Away Jr” was the result and the prototype debuted at the 1954 Chicago Trade Show. The Ride-Away Jr was the hit of the show and they had so many orders that it was difficult to meet the demand. Elmer and Cecil Pond both mortgaged their homes to come up with the money needed for additional production space.

The rapid growth of Wheel Horse necessitated an even larger production facility and in 1961 Wheel Horse moved to their new state of the art factory. In 1969 they initiated more new products than any other year in Wheel Horse history. Wheel Horse’s first 14 horsepower tractor called the GT-14 was at the top of the line. It was a large frame tractor with big15’ rear tires. A new series of tractors using vertical shaft engines and a new vertical input transaxle was introduced.

The spring of 1969 saw the opening of a new plant in Geel, Belgium called Amnor N. V. Wheel Horse lawn tractors are known for their standardization across the years. In the 1986, Wheel Horse was purchased by Toro. Toro continued to build garden tractors using the Wheel Horse name until 2007.

Elmer Pond went to be with the Lord in 1977 leaving behind a legacy of honest dealing, integrity, and having created the little red tractors we all love.

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We are definitely glad you were "borned" on this day, Elmer!