Gro-Mor Cultivator
The Frank Held Tractor Company Columbus, Ohio Est. 1921
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History
Frank B. Held
1885-1933
This is the history of the Gro-Mor
In the summer of 1919 while working his seven acre garden with a push cultivator on the southeast side of Columbus, Ohio, Frank Held had an idea strike him, why not put a motor on the cultivator to make the job much easier?
That fall he boarded a train for Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he purchased a Briggs & Stratton model “P” motor wheel. Returning to Columbus with his newly acquired motor, he began designing and building his power cultivator.
In the spring of 1920, his new invention was ready to go. Once fellow gardeners saw how easy-to-use and efficient his new motorized cultivator was, they wanted one too, so that year, ten more were built.
As the demand for these machines continued to grow, Frank Held signed a contract with Briggs & Stratton in December 1920, giving him exclusive rights to use the Model "P" engine for two years. Briggs & Stratton was to sell to no other garden tractor manufacturer until January 1, 1923, with the exception of A.G Byerly, Salem, Ohio , or the company to manufacture his cultivator. The contract was for a minimum of 1150 Type "P" engines, 100 engines per month to be delivered in January, February and March 1921, 100 during the balance of the year and 750 in 1922. According to Briggs & Stratton Corporation history, this was the first garden tractor to use a Briggs & Stratton engine.
On January 21, 1921, The Frank Held Tractor Company was incorporated. A building was rented at 609-611 North Fourth St., Columbus, Ohio where these machines were manufactured under the name Gro-Mor Cultivator. He contracted with J. Leukart Machine Co. to do the machine work , blacksmithing by J. Waldschmidt and casting at Hertenstein foundry and the Buckeye Pump Co.
Frank Held soon discovered the Gro-Mor Tractor could be more than just a cultivator. He designed the tractor to use Planet Jr. bolt-on attachments such as hoes, rakes and plows.
A reel mower was designed that could attach to the front of the Gro-Mor, it came in a 22” or 30” cutting width. This attachment was called the Mow-Mor.
A drum style root crop washer that would wash crops such as carrots, beets and radishes. This was called the Wash-Mor
The GroMor Jr. was a more narrow and compact cultivator designed for one row of small vegetables at a time. At some point, a Merkel engine was used on it, but soon discontinued
The Clip-Mor was a reel style lawn mower that used an Indian Motorcycle engine.
In 1923, Briggs & Stratton came out with the model "PB" engine in which Frank Held started using for the Gro-Mor tractor.
In 1924, the company had a setback due to a fire, but then continued to grow.
In 1928, needing more room to manufacture and store machinery, the Frank Held Tractor Company merged with Conner Hoe & Tool Company. Conner Hoe & Tool went bankrupt and liquidated that same year.
From 1920 to 1928, somewhere between 2500 and 3000 Gro-Mor tractors were built in Columbus, Ohio and sold throughout the eastern and Midwestern United States.
After the Frank Held Tractor Company dissolved in 1929, Frank Held purchased 106 acres in South Bloomfield, Ohio where he started and operated a successful farm with his children under the names Twin Elms Fruit & Vegetable Gardens and Frank Held & Sons Quality Vegetables. He was also a dealer for Cletrac Tractors.
Due to his success in business and farming, Frank Held served as Secretary for the National Vegetable Growers Association and President of the Ohio Vegetable Growers Association, he passed away suddenly in 1933 at the age of 48.
Frank Held with his Gro-Mor Cultivator
Thank you to everyone who visited the Gro-Mor display at the 2013 Vintage Garden Tractor Club of America expo in Plain City, Ohio. It was a wonderful weekend.
Gro-Mor Cultivator Demonstration
Gro-Mor display at the Ohio State Fair.
Circa 1923
