▁construction ▁equipment ▁and ▁sought ▁to ▁capital ize ▁on ▁the ▁passage ▁of ▁the ▁Federal ▁A id ▁Highway ▁Act ▁of ▁ 1 9 2 1 . ▁L aden ▁with ▁deb t ▁and ▁need ing ▁more ▁capital ▁to ▁switch ▁its ▁product ▁line , ▁the ▁company ▁strugg led ▁to ▁move ▁forward . ▁ ▁Both ▁the ▁Hol t ▁Man ufact uring ▁Company ▁and ▁C .   L .   Best ▁were ▁hurt ▁by ▁the ▁de pression ▁of ▁ 1 9 2 0 – 2 1 ▁which ▁further ▁in hib ited ▁sales . ▁Both ▁companies ▁stream lined ▁their ▁over - la pping ▁product ▁lines . ▁The ▁two ▁companies ▁had ▁spent ▁about ▁US $ 1 . 5 ▁million ▁( about ▁$ ▁today ) ▁in ▁legal ▁fe es ▁fighting ▁each ▁other ▁in ▁various ▁contract ual , ▁tra dem ark ▁and ▁pat ent ▁in fr ing ement ▁law su its ▁since ▁ 1 9 0 5 . ▁On ▁the ▁advice ▁of ▁invest ors , ▁the ▁two ▁companies ▁merged ▁in ▁ 1 9 2 5 ▁to ▁form ▁the ▁C ater p ill ar ▁T ractor ▁Co . ▁, ▁C ater p ill ar ▁Inc . ▁was ▁the ▁ 2 2 9 th ▁largest ▁company ▁in ▁the ▁world . ▁ ▁Company ▁orig ins ▁▁ ▁Charles   H .   H olt ▁arrived ▁in ▁San ▁Francisco ▁from ▁Con cord , ▁New ▁Ham pshire , ▁in ▁ 1 8 6 4 ▁to ▁form ▁C .   H .   H olt ▁and ▁Co . ▁Initial ly ▁the ▁company ▁produced ▁wooden ▁w agon ▁whe els ▁and ▁later