Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company During World War Two
Tiffin, OH
1914-1960
1960-1988 as the Pettibone-Tiffin Corporation

This page updated 6-24-2023.

In May 2014 I visited the World War Two submarine USS Cod in Cleveland, OH.  On this particular research trip, I was most interested in the Cleveland Diesel-built diesel engines in the submarine.  Nine years later, I was checking back through the group of photos I took while at the USS Cod, looking for a photo of another ship on display in the area.  While I didn't find that photo, I found the ones below.  Author's photo.

I found photos of a 1945 Hanson torpedo truck crane.  I had forgotten I had photographed this very rare vehicle.  The Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company was the only producer of the unique vehicle.  The torpedo crane truck was the invention of the president and co-founder of the company, Mr. Clifford Hanson.  Author's photo.

The Hanson torpedo truck crane is not far from where it was built in Tiffin, OH.  It is 95 miles from the USS Cod to the location in Tiffin, OH where the vehicle was manufactured.  Author's photo.

The five and a half-ton truck crane could lift four tons with outriggers and had a road speed of thirty miles an hour.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Clifford Hanson, age 22, was one of two brothers who started the Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company in April 1914.  Clifford was an inventor and had been awarded a patent for a friction clutch.  With his brother Milton, who was 20 years old, they started their small company at the corner of Court and Jefferson Streets in Tiffin, OH.  Two years later the brothers moved their operation to a larger facility at Wall and Miami Streets in Tiffin.  The rapidly expanding business also added a dedicated machine shop and foundry at the same time.

In 1918 the company incorporated, and Milton was forced to take an early retirement in 1924 due to health issues.  In 1927, the company built a final assembly plant at the intersection of Wall and Miami streets in Tiffin.  Three more buildings were added between 1929 and 1944.

In 1924 the company built its first excavator.  This was the first of its type in the United States to be powered by a gasoline engine.  These were most commonly known during this era as steam shovels due to being powered by steam.  In 1928 the company added a new product line with the introduction of a line of heavy duty equipment trailers.  The first trailers of this type were equipped with hard rubber tires.  In 1930, the first trailers were introduced with pneumatic tires. 

In 1945, another factory was built on West Market Street in Tiffin.  With an addition to this factory in 1956, the company had expanded to 112,900 square feet of manufacturing area.

By 1957 the Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company was in a world of hurt.  The company owed income tax plus interest and penalties on $37,000 of unreported income on its 1945 tax return.  The 1945 corporate tax rate was 90%.  The reason for the high rate is that after World War One, several companies were accused of profiteering from the products they produced for the war effort.  Therefore, during World War Two the tax rate was set at 90%.  These revenues also helped pay for an expensive war.

Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company owed 90% of $37,000 which is $33,300 in back taxes plus interest and penalties.  To put this in perspective, $33,300 in 1956 is $373,805 in current 2023 dollars.  This is not an insignificant amount in either year.  In 1960 the Pettibone-Tiffin Corporation purchased the Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company and operated it as a division of the company in Tiffin until 1988, when it went out of business. 

The Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company won the Army-Navy "E" award one time in July 1945. 

Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company World War Two Products:  The company had $6,950,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  The company was also awarded a $20,946 contract in October 1940 for power shovels by the Army Corps of Engineers.  The company had three products for the U.S. Navy.  The first was the torpedo crane trucks like the one previously shown.  Contracts Nos-99838 for $1,354,000, Nxs-39775 for $52,000, and Xso-52137 for $307,000 were the three contracts that procured this for the Navy.  These three contracts totaled $1,713,000, or 25% of the total contracts.  A total of 276 were built for a unit cost of $6,206.

The second product was crawler cranes that were used on LSTs to load and unload equipment located on the deck of the ship.  The U.S. Navy awarded the Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company three contracts for construction of these cranes.  Contracts Nxs-47508 for $998,000, Obs-24241 for $970,000, and Obs-34037 for $266,000 were the contracts for the crawler crane.  These there contracts totaled $2,234,000 or 32% of the total contracts. 

The third main product for the U.S. Navy that Hanson Clutch and Machinery produced during the war were mine sweeping cranes used on Navy destroyers.  These were used to deploy or retrieve mines from the ships.  There were four contracts for these cranes.  Contracts Nos-95921 for $153,000, Nos-13484 for $205,000, Xss-39789 for $1,941,000, and Obs-18034 for $59,000 were the contracts for the mine crane.  These four contracts totaled $2,358,000 or 34% of the total. 

The Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company built several unique and important products for the U.S. Navy during World War Two.  These unique products assisted the U.S. Navy in helping to win World War Two.

In November 1945 the Army Corps of Engineers also ordered  $235,000 worth of SP-8 machinery trailers.  This is the only major contract the company had with the U.S. Army during World War Two.  Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library. 

The torpedo crane truck's lineage goes back to a truck crane Mr. Clifford Hanson had previously developed for the City of New York, NY to assist in cleaning out manholes.  There were 276 torpedo crane trucks built during World War Two for the U.S. Navy.  Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library. 

Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library. 

The mine crane was used in U.S. Navy destroyers to deploy and retrieve mines during World War Two.  Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library. 

The Hanson crawler crane was used by the U.S. Navy on LSTs to move equipment on the deck of the ship.  It was small enough to negotiate the confined space of the LST.  This particular crawler crane is being used by the company to move components used in the crawler portion of the crane.  Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.

The Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company's Final Assembly Plants:  Two of the company's three former factory buildings still exist and have been repurposed into a pub and grill, a performing arts laboratory, and the bookstore for Tiffin University. 

This crawler crane is in front of the final assembly buildings on Miami Street in Tiffin, OH.  The two buildings on the left still exist.  The one on the far left is the Tiffin University book store, and the one that has "Hanson Trailers" on it is now the Wall Street Pub and Grill.  Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.

The building shown here on the corner of Wall and Miami Streets in Tiffin has been razed and is now a parking lot for the Wall Street Pub and Grill.  Wall Street runs down the side of the excavator building.  Image courtesy of the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.

This photo of two of the three remaining final assembly plants was taken on August 8, 2014.  They are in their original configuration.  These buildings are on the National Register of Historical Places.  Photo courtesy of Nyttend on Wikipedia Commons.

This is the Wall Street Pub and Grill.  The green area and parking lot are in the location of the razed "Hanson Excavators" building.  Image Courtesy of Google Maps. 

 The Wall Street's website notes that this building was formerly occupied by the Pettibone Industrial Machine Shop.  The Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership website notes that the Wall Street Pub and Grill opened its doors on June 7, 2016, in the reclaimed building that previously was occupied by the Pettibone Industrial Machine Shop.  Sometime before the Pettibone Industrial Machine Shop used these buildings, they were the final assembly plant for the Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company.  Image Courtesy of Google Maps.  

It took less than two years to refurbish these buildings that were built in 1916 so they could still be useful long after Hanson and Pettibone-Tiffin had gone out of business.  This is one of the better, if not the best looking repurposed former factories I have seen.  This image is of the Tiffin University Book Store.  Image Courtesy of Google Maps. 

This image shows what may have been the office building for the Hanson final assembly plant and another assembly building that has been modernized and adapted for use by Tiffin University.  Image Courtesy of Google Maps. 

By the end of World War Two, there were four factory buildings in the Hanson final assembly plant.  This satellite image shows that three still exist.  Image Courtesy of Google Maps. 

My Personal Visit to the former Hanson Clutch and Machinery Final Assembly Plants:  On April 23, 2023, a week after I originally published this page, I was able to stop by Tiffin, OH and visit Tiffin University.  This was a Sunday afternoon and it was quiet on the campus.

I had been through Tiffin several times before, and each time I had passed within a couple of blocks of the former Hanson factory complex that is now part of Tiffin University.  I was rather frustrated that I had been so close but was unaware of the existence of the former Hanson plants during those trips.  I was also not able to make a trip to the area before I published this page, and therefore had to use Google Street view photos for the current plant photos.

I have kept the original Google photos as shown above and added my personal photos of the former Hanson final assembly photos below.  These are more comprehensive than the Google maps photos, and also show what may have been another Hanson factory located across the street from the already known plant complex.

This image is looking northwest along Miami Street.  My series of photos will move northwest along Miami Street and then around the building complex.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This is now the Tiffin University Welcome Center.  Its location among the Hanson final assembly plants would indicate that this is a former Hanson office building.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This former Hanson final assembly building is now the University book store.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This view is looking southeast from the entrance to the book store.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

I really wanted to visit on a day that the Wall Street Pub & Grille was open so I could have lunch there.  Unfortunately for me, it is closed on Sundays.  I need to plan another trip back to this location when it is open.  I am really interested to see what the interior of the Pub is like.  It is supposed to still have the former factory look to it.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This building is on the northwest corner of Wall Street and Miami Street.  It is on the opposite corner of the former Hanson final assembly building complex and the Wall Street Pub and Grill shown in the photo above.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

What caught my attention was the name "Hanson" on the building.  This may have well been another Hanson plant.  The different colored bricks show that it has been rebuilt in places and also been expanded over the years.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

The single story section has been added onto the original two story building.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This image is back across the street and is of the back side of the three former Hanson final assembly buildings.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This image is of the former eastern assembly building that is behind the former administration building.  It is now the University's Performing Arts Laboratory.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.

This last photo brings us back around to our starting point of the red brick two story building.  Author's photo added 6-24-2023.