OLDS, Alta. — Willie Klanten prefers the comfort of his John Deere tractor with its GPS, stereo and air conditioning, but he has a soft spot in his heart for the Lanz Bulldog.
The Lanz Bulldog tractor first rolled off the assembly line in 1921 in Mannheim, Germany.
Today, Klanten probably has Canada’s largest collection of the sturdy little blue machine.
He has 19 tractors with the oldest being a 1929 model and the newest built in 1952, a few years before John Deere took over the Lanz company.
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Klanten’s family used one in Germany, but when he emigrated he didn’t know about the 2,000 that had been exported to Canada.
He saw one in 1986 at the plowing match in Olds, Alta., and started researching.
“I put an ad inThe Western Producer and probably six or seven people called,” he said during an open house showcasing the tractors at his Olds grain farm.
Some of his purchases needed to be restored, while others needed only cleaning. They are simple machines with few moving parts, and he was able to bring them back to life.
He still occasionally advertises looking for more and the response is good, although most of the calls are from enthusiasts like himself.
“Now they don’t want to sell them, they just want to talk about them,” he said.
The earliest models had one cylinder and make a distinctive put-put sound.
Later models offered bigger engines but the concept of a simple, easy to maintain machine remained.
Glenn Fil of Winnipeg has four.
“My grandfather had one when I was 12 or 14,” he said.
“They were fascinating because they were so different and the technology was so good at the time.”
They could run on used motor oil or diesel and were fuel efficient, but the blue exhaust would not be acceptable today.
Fil thinks there is a place for farm machines that use a variety of fuel, including used oil.
“It’s what we should be doing here if we could make them run clean.”
The Lanz company started building farm equipment in the early 1800s and became the world’s largest manufacturer. Its first tractors were designed by engineer Fritz Huber, who had been working on engines since 1891.
The tractors were exported around the world, said Herman Siemens of Taber, Alta., who has seen them in South America, Australia, North America and Europe.
“Lanz became less popular in the ’50s. People wanted a smooth four or six cylinder engine. People got more used to luxury and Lanz sales went down,” he said.
“Since they petered out in the ’60s, if you have a person who is 40, he doesn’t remember them anymore.”
The earliest models were painted grey but later models were bright blue, which helps collectors determine their age.
The older models are started by heating a glow bulb so fuel can be injected and exploded to fire the machine. These were used until 1952.
The smallest ones were less than 20 horsepower while the larger ones were were as big as 60 h.p. Four and six cylinder engines were eventually added.
The company also built an articul at e d four-wheel drive on steel wheels, but the model was discontinued because it was too expensive.
Lanz also made threshing machines, self propelled combines and plows.
Parts are still available from Poland.
