In 1948, Albert Scholtens bought a new Grand Haven Model CC garden tractor (serial No. 910). Seventy years later, the garden tractor remains in the same family, although it is now owned by Albert’s son, Sam.
Sam’s grandfather and father raised onions in “the Grant muck” — once a marsh near Grant, Michigan, drained to create farmland — for many years using the Grand Haven for cultivating and other tasks. “Before that, Dad used a Bolens Huski walk-behind,” Sam says. “He was happy when he got something he could sit on.”
The small tractor was designed by Ben Poll in 1941. He and his two brothers owned Holland Transplanter Co., Holland, Michigan, where a few tractors were built. Prior to World War II, Grand Haven Stamped Products (now GHSP) bought the rights to the tractor. The Grand Haven, Michigan, metal-stamping plant manufactured about 1,400 of them between 1946 and 1953.
A photo of Albert shows the GH in hi-crop configuration. A “duster” attachment on the rear was used to spread a powdered insecticide on plants. Dave Mitteer, an engineer at GHSP, said the company never sold rear wheels like those shown in the photo.
In fact, the wheels were custom-built for Albert, who needed a way to elevate the tractor. With 4:00×36 Firestone Implement tires, the wheels have flat centers made from 1/4-inch diamond plate. Spacers 8-1/2 inches wide helped the wheels clear the ends of the drive shafts. Modified front spindles kept the tractor level. Ingenuity was, and remains, a common trait among farmers. Sam still has these wheels and spindles in storage.