First Truck Built In Missoula – 1926
Automobile Truck Built in Missoula
Local Refinery Company Completes First Model of New Motor.
For perhaps the first time in history an automobile truck has been built and assembled in Missoula.
The truck was designed by C. W. Hart of the Hart Refineries here and is for general use of the company in the transportation of gas and central distributing points over western Montana. After other trucks had failed to meet the special requirements demanded, Mr. Hart designed the one which would fit the particular needs and the first model has been completed.
Parts and materials for four trucks were secured from supply houses. Equipment for the second tractor was loaded here yesterday and it will be shipped to Hedges, where it will be assembled and placed in service. The other two are to be built here. The program of the refineries will probably require about ten of the trucks, Mr. Hart says.
Mr. Hart, who was a mechanical engineer at one time, was the designer of the Hart-Parr tractors. He says the make of trucks which had been used were all right for general purposes but had failed in the particular line of work that refineries require of them. The best parts of conventional trucks were secured to complete the five-ton capacity model he has built.
The storage tanks will carry 1,600 gallons of gas. The truck has a 55-horsepower motor, self starter, inclosed cab and a system whereby the driver can start up his 22,000 pound load if the truck gets stuck in bad roads. Long chains are to be used when the truck is stalled. Chains are locked on each of rear wheels and the other ends of the chains which are laid forward in front of the car are fastened to the ground with stakes. When this operation is completed the motor is started and the rear wheels in revolving will reel up the chains and carry the load out, Mr. Hart says.
Mr. Hart says that heretofore the company had been in the wholesale business, but it would enter the retail field in Missoula and the nearby valleys; that transportation would be the big item in supplying the central distributing points and the trucks will be built for this purpose.
Mr. Hart says that in building the trucks the comfort of the driver was considered and the cab has a seat more than six feet wide. This may be used as a bunk in an emergency.
The article above appeared in The Daily Missoulian on January 24, 1926.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/349045842/
A Missoulian article the previous day, January 23, 1926, stated that Mr. Hart had plans for what would become an early downtown Missoula gasoline station.
Part of Baseball Field Sold To Refinery Owner
C. W. Hart Acquires Holdings of R. D. Mercer.
Several lots on East Railroad avenue were sold yesterday by R. D. Mercer to C. W. Hart of the Hart Refineries, it has been announced. The consideration was not made public, but it is understood the deal was made for cash.
The property in question is located in the northwest corner of the block which had been used for a number of years as the City league baseball park. There was some talk of selling the property last year and the bleachers located there were torn down and the home plate shifted to the southwest corner of the field.
In connection with the sale, it was indicated that Mr. Hart planned to erect a gasoline service station there as soon as the weather will permit. It was said that the area occupied by the gas station would be so taken up that there is a possibility that the baseball field will not be interfered with materially.
Mr. Mercer, who announced the sale, said that he advised Mr. Hart of the wishes of the baseball enthusiasts and that although Mr. Hart made no direct statement he indicated that there was a possibility that he would raise no objections to the use of the ball field if the league would erect a back-stop of sufficient strength and height to protect his business at that corner.
C. W. Hart was the subject of a profile already posted on this website – see link below: