Excerpt From Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel
Richard Sylvester moved to Lindsay, Ontario about 1876 and set up an implement factory. Sylvester had been building implements at Enniskillen, Ontario. About 1902, Sylvester began building gasoline engines, followed in 1907 with the Sylvester Auto Thresher. The 1907 line covered almost everything in farm implements. Included were: binders, mowers, rakes, cultivators, plows, corn shellers, and numerous other machines. Sylvester engines were available originally as two-cycle motors, but were soon replaced with four-cycle engines. Sylvester Auto Gasoline Threshing Machines and Sylvester Automobile Gasoline Plowing Machines both appeared about 1907. Tractor production lasted for a few years – probably ending before 1914. Sylvester Manufacturing Company was purchased by Mr. K. G. MacDuffee on March 8, 1956, and the name was then changed to Sylvester Steel Products, Ltd.
The Sylvester Auto Thresher was introduced in 1907, and was displayed at the Winnipeg Exposition of 1908. It was one of the few such machines designed for both threshing and heavy drawbar work. Most of these rigs had gearing barely heavy enough to move the thresher from one farm to another. Shown here pulling an 8-bottom engine gang, the Sylvester amply demonstrated its drawbar capabilities. Besides the Lindsay, Ontario plant, Sylvester also had branch houses at Brandon, Manitoba and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
This early Sylvester tractor was characterized by an unusual front end design. The front wheels pivoted on a bolster, and were turned by a chain and drum on each side. Another unusual feature was the tubular radiator located below the operators platform. The two-cylinder opposed engine was placed low in the frame, and was lubricated by a twelve-station force feed oiler.
Sylvester tractors of about 1910 were a classy sort with fenders and a canopy. A two-cylinder opposed engine was used, with the radiator mounted between the engine and the operators platform. Sylvester quit the farm machinery business about 1920 to concentrate on railway equipment and track cars.
