In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, STIHL made two-stroke diesel tractors!
Stihl GB shared this on its Facebook page in 2023:
Did you know that STIHL once made tractors?
This is the Type 140/S-15 tractor, which was made from around 1949 to 1964 and was powered by an air-cooled two-stroke diesel engine that was produced in-house, like many of our components today.
This tractor can be seen at the Stihl company museum in Virginia Beach.
Someone asked where they might find parts for the Stihl tractor, to which they replied, “Unfortunately we don’t stock these tractors at our warehouse anymore 😆 but there may be collectors groups on Facebook for vintage STIHL products!”
Other comments include:
- “Imagine having Stihl everything, even a tractor 😍”
- “Two-stroke diesel 🤣”
- “That’s pretty cool. Never knew that or seen anything like it.”
- “I want the badges off it for my big chainy!”
- “No. No, I did not. And now I want one 😂.”
- “Love these old tractors.”
- “That’s awesome. Why the green and not the traditional Stihl red of that era?”
About the 2-stroke engine, Alun said:
More powerful and but less efficient than four stroke, also easier to maintain.
The tractor was made between 1949 (some sources 1948) and 1964, with this model being housed in a Stihl museum.
Stihl once had the following on their German site:
The Andreas Stihl manufacturing company produced light farm tractors in Germany from 1949 until 1965.
Stihl was looking to take advantage of a strong post-war demand for tractors. The tractors used a Stihl two-cycle air-cooled diesel engine and ranged from about 12 to 30 horsepower.
These are the different Stihl tractor models and when they were made.
| Model | Power | Years |
| 140 | 12 hp | 1948 – 54 |
| 144 | 14 hp | 1955 – 58 |
| 381 | 14 hp | 1959 – 60 |
| S-15 | unknown | unknown |
| S-20 | 20 hp | 1960 – 61 |
A user on the Chainsaw Collectors Forum shared this about the tractor:
I know, not a saw but it is part of the history of STIHL.
This has an air cooled two stroke diesel, and the engine was sold as a stand alone power supply in both the single and twin version, for powering saw mills, pumps and the like.
That’s the diesel engine that was also sold separately.
See the tractor running in this short video.
Users on the Forestry Forum had more information.
Ford_man shared that “Only 2000 were built between 1949 and 1962. It was a model 381S only 6 known to be in the US.”
Andries said:
Andreas seems to have designed it to be in the Ford 8N/9N size range and to be a strong-pulling machine.
- Diesel
- Super wide drawbar
- Look at the size of that pin hitch
Maybe the design was for a woodlot small tree harvest? Which would explain the position of pride for the chainsaw on the fender.
Overall, Stihl tractors are very rare, especially those that are in good condition.
It’s another interesting piece of Stihl history, alongside the Model A chainsaw and other early Stihl chainsaws.
