Early 20th Century Cockshutt SP76 Eight-bottom Gang Plow

 This gang plow was made by the Cockshutt Plow Company of Brantford, Ontario, and was reportedly pulled first by a steam engine and then by a 10-ton Holt Caterpillar tractor, possibly around Petersburg, Nebraska.. If you compare it to the Avery ten-bottom plow across the lawn here at Stuhr Museum, you will notice that this plow has a platform whereas the Avery does not. This Cockshutt plow required a plowman to walk along the platform, raising each plow bottom with its own lever. The Avery, on the other hand, is a "self-lift" plow, meaning the driver of the tractor pulling the plow could lift all ten plow bottoms by tugging on a rope connected to the lever sticking up in the middle of the plow. That lever, connected to a series of chains and gears, lifted the plow bottoms off the ground. For both the Cockshutt and Avery plows, each bottom could move on its own. Having independent plow bottoms meant that any large stones in the ground would only impact the movement of the plow bottom that should hit it. If you want to see a video of a different Cockshutt eight-bottom gang plow with four plowmen being pulled by a Sawyer-Massey steam engine tractor, click or touch here.
 You can trace the roots of the Cockshutt Plow Company back to 1877, when James Cockshutt opened up a small shop called the Brantford Plow Works. By the mid-1880s, James had developed his own plows, particularly the J. G. C. sulky – meaning, single-bottom – plow, which became a very popular tool for farmers on the prairie. James, however, died before his sulky plow was patented; and his father, Ignatius, and brother, W. F., took over the company, renaming it the Cockshutt Plow Company. In 1888, W. F. returned to his own store and his brother, Frank, took over the company. Throughout the last decade of the 19th century, Cockshutt's business grew.
 Under the leadership of yet another brother, Harry, the company acquired more capital and purchased other firms, including the Adams Wagon Company, Brantford Carriage Company, and one-third interest in the Frost & Wood Company. Already one of the leading plow manufacturers in Canada, the company added a wide variety of other products to its line, as well as a large number of dealers, when it acquired these other firms. The company's numerous well-built products, its wide distribution, and good management enabled the company to survive the Great Depression and thrive for nearly three more decades. In 1962, the White Motor Company purchased Cockshutt's farm equipment business, although it continued using the Cockshutt name for some time.

Notes

You can read an informative history of the company by Danny Bowes on Yesterday's Tractor Co.'s page here.
You can read a narrative history of the company, which includes several images, by William H. Cockshutt on the International Cockshutt Club's page here.
Another web source on Cockshutt's history can be found here. Not all of these sites agree on the details of Cockshutt's history, particularly the demise of the Cockshutt business and name in the 1960s.