Monday, November 11, 2013

Lanz Bulldog

The Lanz Bulldog was a tractor manufactured by Heinrich Lanz AG in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. 
Many berets, a Lanz Bulldog and old Buick; date and place unknown
Production started in 1921 and various versions of the Bulldog were produced up to 1960. John Deere purchased Lanz in 1956 and started using the name "John Deere-Lanz" for the Lanz product line. A few years after the Bulldog was discontinued the Lanz name fell into disuse. The Lanz Bulldog was one of the most popular German tractors, with over 220,000 of them produced in its long production life. The name "Bulldog" is widely used in Germany as a synonym for tractors even today, especially in Bavaria.
The Bulldog was a simple and easily maintained vehicle due primarily to its simple power source: a single cylinder, horizontal, two-stroke, hot bulb engine. Initially the engine was a 6.3 litre, 12 horsepower unit, but as the Bulldog evolved the engine was increased to 10.3 litres and 55 horsepower. While hot bulb engines were crude they were easy to maintain and could burn a wide variety of low grade fuels – even waste oils.
‘Le Percheron’ was a licensed copy of the 25 HP hot-bulb Bulldog built by Société Nationale de Construction Aeronautic du Centre (SNCAC) at Colombe in France from about 1939. It is believed that nearly 3,700 were built before production ceased in 1956.
The pictures of the beautifully restored Lanz Bulldog above are by (remember yesterday's post?) Thierry Dupré, who also does upholstery and leatherwork.

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