Back on track save the day

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Bud Nack at the helm of the Mighty Mouse in 2002

Bud Nack still lives on the ranch where he was born in Escondido, Calif. Suburban encroachment, which has steadily whittled away at his family's acreage, now surrounds him and prevents him from farming or ranching the land. Officials say it creates fire hazards and various nuisances. Bud's ancestors, the Einers and the Nacks, settled that land more than 125 years ago, and Bud intends to stay on it until the end. Surrounded by farm and heavy construction equipment from the day he was born, Bud now keeps in touch with his roots by collecting, restoring and using old equipment. His favorite tractor is his 1952 Mead Mighty Mouse crawler.

In 1952, Einer Brothers Inc., a general contracting company in Escondido, near San Diego, landed a contract for a portion of the San Diego County Water Pipeline installation project with work to begin in 1953. This pipeline would carry water throughout San Diego County from the Colorado and Feather Rivers, and was to be buried underground for most of its length. Because final preparation of the ditch grade needed to be precise, Fred Einer, Bud's second cousin and CEO of Einer Bros., needed a machine that could do the specialized ditch work. Enter the Mead Mighty Mouse.

At that time, Mead Specialties Inc. of Chicago built a very small dozer called the Mighty Mouse. The tractor, which Mead marketed to construction contractors, street departments and others in the 1950s and 1960s, was powered by a 6-hp Wisconsin AKN single-cylinder, air-cooled motor. The Mighty Mouse transmitted power through a reduction gearbox, automotive-style clutch and chain drive to a two-speed transmission with reverse. Steering was accomplished by uncoupling either of the final drive shafts with individual lever-operated, interlocking cog-type, in-out clutches. Pulling all the way back on one lever actuated a brake to that particular shaft, which allowed sharper steering. Pulling back on both levers stopped the tractor. In spite of its small size, the Mighty Mouse weighed about 900 pounds, and the model that Einer Bros. purchased featured a hydraulically raised and lowered blade.

Bud has very vivid memories of the Einer's Mead Mighty Mouse, particularly during its operation on the Nack ranch while San Diego County's waterline was being installed across their land. Bud and his friend, Carl von Seggern, both recall with delight operating that little tractor. Bud's father, Walter, raised barley, some corn and cattle on the ranch and was also a heavy equipment operator for his cousins, the Einers. Bud and Carl would often accompany Walter to the Einer Bros, equipment yard where they were allowed to run the Mighty Mouse.