This pumper, like the Seagrave Aerial Truck in the museum, has definitely seen better days. It was built on an Oshkosh four wheel drive chassis. The style indicates that this is a mid '40s or even early '50s chassis, likely making it an Oshkosh "W" series truck. Which "W" though, we have no idea.
Though it will cost one $6.00 to peek at this pumper, it is well worth the fee, as the
. If an outrageously eclectic collection of antiquities interests you, then stop in. It's not terribly difficult to find oneself spending an entire day perusing the indoor and outdoor collections.
The Howe company was founded in 1872, and built their first pumper on a motor chassis in 1907. They were building on Ford Model T chassis in 1917, and in the 1920s built the Howe Defender on Defiance chassis. When Defiance production ceased in 1930 they began to make their own chassis, also called Defender, as well as using commercial chassis such as Ford, Chevrolet and International. The New Defender on a Waukesha-engined Duplex chassis came in 1953, with 750, 1000 and 1250 gpm pumpers, open or closed cabs. Pumpers on commercial chassis were still made in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967 came a new custom cab-forward chassis with Detroit Diesel engine and open or closed Cincinnati cab, still called the Defender. In 1974 Howe acquired the Oren-Roanoke and Coast companies.
Many trucks released by the Willys factory as pickups or "stripped chassis" were adapted by after-market manufacturers including the Howe Fire Apparatus of Anderson, Indiana. These conversions also included Forward Control fire trucks built from the cab-over-engine trucks produced by Willys from 1956-65.
From Coachbuilt
![]()
Oshkosh Truck was founded by William R. Besserdich and Bernhard A. Mosling in 1917. The two men had received patents in 1914 and 1915 for improvements on four-wheel-drive capability. Besserdich and Mosling approached several established automobile manufacturers--including Ford, Packard, and Studebaker--about using their designs to produce a four-wheel-drive vehicle. After a series of rejections, they decided to start their own company. Handling the business end of the operation, Mosling sold stock in the new company, raising $250,000 in capital. Meanwhile, master engineer Besserdich was busy coming up with a prototype vehicle design. In May of 1917, the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company, located in Clintonville, Wisconsin, was incorporated. Besserdich was the company's president, and Mosling was listed as its manager and secretary. The prototype vehicle was a four-cylinder, three-speed, 3,000-pound truck called Old Betsy. The success of Old Betsy's four-wheel-drive components attracted investors. Since many of the investors were based in Oshkosh, 47 miles south of Clintonville, the company relocated there toward the end of 1917 and changed its name to Oshkosh Motor Truck Manufacturing Company.
The first Oshkosh truck to hit the market was the two-ton capacity Model A, at a price of about $3,500. After the Model A, Oshkosh began offering the Model B, which could carry 3.5 tons, and soon afterward, the five ton Model F. The four-wheel-drive ability of the Oshkosh trucks quickly set them apart from conventional trucks already on the market. Sales grew from seven trucks in 1918 to 54 in 1919, to 142 in 1920. The company, however, hit a slump immediately following World War I. A postwar depression, combined with a government program that donated surplus trucks to municipalities, resulted in sales that shrank from 62 trucks in 1921 to 16 in 1923. In 1922 Mosling replaced Besserdich as company president.
In 1939 Oshkosh introduced its W-Series truck, which marked Oshkosh's first significant entry into production for military use. The Army Corps of Engineers selected the company's Model W-700 for a variety of operations, including snow removal from Air Corps runways and general wrecker work. Toward the end of World War II, production began on Model W-1600. The W-1600, driven by all three of its axles, was designed for off-road use in oil fields and for pulling heavily laden trailers. Mosling stepped back into the company's presidency in 1944. Under Mosling Oshkosh continued developing the W-Series of trucks, introducing the W-2200 in 1947. The W-2200 could run on either a gasoline or diesel fuel and was virtually unmatched in the size of plows or wings with which it could be equipped. Large numbers of the truck were purchased by mining companies for hauling ore and by sugar companies for plantation to processor transportation. Production of the W-2200 ended in 1955.
From Funding Universe