The online forum for the antique Caterpillar collectors’ community was all abuzz in December 2013. Two photos had just been posted by a hiker showing a rusted old crawler tractor in the hills of Simi Valley, California.
It was a 1919 Best 25 Tracklayer – the smallest tractor built by the C.L. Best Tractor Company and very rare. Only 300 were ever made by the company, which later merged with the Holt Manufacturing Company to form the Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1925. Most are gone today, with probably less than a dozen still remaining, and only five or so in working condition.
The race was on among diehard collectors of the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club.
After a search that included matching the terrain on Google Earth, hiking uphill with backpacks filled with tools and hiring a Vietnam-era helicopter, Matt Veerkamp beat out the others and claimed the rare Best.
“I had competition,” he says. “Any Best and Holt machine is definitely sought after. They're worth more. They're more rare. They're hard to get. And then there are a few models like the Best 25 that are extremely rare, that you just don't have a lot of chances to be able to get them.”
A hiker posted a photo to the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club's website, setting off a race to find the rare 1919 Best 25.Matt Veerkamp and Shawn Stover
