Killen-Strait
Killen-Strait was the name of an American engineering company.
History
The company made tractors. The company came from Killen-Walsh Manufacturing Company, which changed its name to Killen-Strait in 1914, to build the Strait's Tractor.
Structure
It was based in Appleton, Wisconsin in the USA.
Products
The Killen-Strait Tractor was powered by a choice of 25-40HP Waukesha Engines, with Remy ignition systems. Two models of tractor were built - a 30-50 model and a 15-30 model.[1]
Tanks in World War One
Killen-Strait produced one of their vehicles with a tracked system for demonstration on 30 June 1915 at Wembley Park, in front of Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George. On the same day, the War Office had passed its specification for a machine gun destroyer to the Admiralty's Landships Committee (based at 83 Pall Mall). From the demonstration of the tractor cutting barbed wire, responsibility of the Landships Committee was passed from the Admiralty to the new Ministry of Munitions. The tracked Killen-Strait Tractor significantly inspired the design of what would later that year become the tank. The tracked Killen-Strait Tractor had one track at the front and two at the back.[2]