Sargent Tile Ditcher Company was founded in 1903 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and in 1921 it was engaged both in equipment manufacturing and in contracting for ditch maintenance. It was known as Sargent Machine Company by the early 1930s, and sales literature published circa 1931-1932 identifies Fred Grundon, uncle of Little Giant Crane & Shovel Company founder Lewis Grundon, as a satisfied customer of its Junior dragline. The company was again renamed, to Sargent Engineering Corporation, and was acquired by John Catalane, who sold it to Warner & Swasey Company (Collection 551) in 1967.

Herbert W. Sargent of Fort Dodge was awarded a patent in 1920 for a “Gathering Conveyor-Bucket,” and that he assigned the patent to Sargent Tile Ditcher. Sargent Machine Company claims to have originated the hold-down method of attaching an excavator’s upper works to its base, and the ball-bearing circle. The HT8440 truck hydraulic crane was touted as the world’s largest in 1966.

This is an artificial collection comprised of records from multiple accessions. Initial records in this collection were received in the Richard Miller papers, Accession 2000-0018 (received Jan 20, 2000). Additional records have been received from:

* Judd Griffith Collection, Accession 2000-0113 (received Sep 22 2000)

* Donald W. Frantz Collection, Accession 2005-0150 (received Dec 31 2005). Filed with his collection per his request.

* Printout from U. S. Patent Office website, Mar 20, 2012.