Donaldson

DONALDSON'S 100 YEARS

The Beginnings

"The company that dust built."

Frank Donaldson Sr. is fired from The Bull Tractor Co. and invents the world's first effective air cleaner for an agricultural tractor in a dusty Utah field; so Donaldson Company is born.

In 1915 Frank Donaldson founded Donaldson Company, a company that provides filtering solutions

In 1914, our founder Frank Donaldson, Sr. worked for The Bull Tractor Co. as a seller, covering the western United States. He enjoyed his work and liked experimenting with machinery, especially with tractors. However, their customers had continuous problems due to engine failures of their Bull tractors. Frank determined that the problem came from the influx of dirt and dust to the engine. He thought that if the dirt could be removed from the air before it entered the engine, it would be protected, operate more efficiently and last longer.

Frank fabricated a filter consisting of a wire cage wrapped in quilt fabric, installed the cage on a two-and-a-half meter tube, and attached it to the Bull tractor engine. The filter trapped most of the dirt before it could get into the engine and destroy the piston rings. Without the air filter, the tractor stopped after two days. With the new air cleaner Frank in place, the Bull tractor plowed the fields day after day. Frank reported his findings to Bull's parent company: "The problem," he said, "is in the air that the tractor breathes." The dirt-laden air reached the carburetor of the tractor. "We have to clean the air," said the young man, "to filter it somehow." The answer to the letter was a telegram telling Frank to report to the Bull Tractor headquarters in St. Paul.

When Frank met with his boss, instead of being congratulated for his new invention was fired. Bull Tractor considered that Frank was being disloyal for not believing the product of the company. The dismissal was a blow to his pride. However, he remained convinced that he could build an air filter that would greatly improve tractor performance and provide a better product to farmers. Frank's father (W.H.L.) had a metal sheet shop, which provided the necessary facilities for Frank to continue his experimentation. The seller turned inventor, along with his brother Bob and his father, developed the idea and created an air filter. It was a crude, hand-shaped, funnel-shaped device that wiped the air at the same time it separated the dust.

With his handmade samples, Frank went out to the market and began visiting farm tractor companies as potential customers. Ironically, one of his first sales made it to The Bull Tractor Co! In 1915 the first Donaldson air filter was introduced. The tractor-engine industry enthusiastically welcomed this new invention, and sales of the Donaldson Company grew rapidly.

1966 Donaldson opens its first European office in Belgium.

In 2006 Donaldson opened a European distribution center to reduce the delivery time of the filters.