FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: Weed invents tire chains

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On August 23, 1904, Harry D. Weed was issued U.S. Patent Number 768,495 for “Grip-Tread for Pneumatic Tires,” which he designed to help make driving safer in inclement winter weather or similarly adverse muddy road conditions. 

When he patented his invention, Weed was living in Canastota, New York, a hamlet in central New York state that can have severe winter weather. A great-grandson recounted that Weed’s  idea for tire chains was inspired by watching drivers wrap ropes – and in some cases even vines – around their tires to increase traction on muddy, snowy and/or icy roads.

At the time Weed was developing his tire chains, he was working at a Canastota-based machine shop that manufactured engines for early automobiles. He worked to develop a non-skid traction device that would be more durable in harsh driving conditions than what he had seen others improvise. He explained that his tire chains were meant to “provide a flexible and collapsible grip or tread composed entirely of chains linked together and applied to the sides and periphery of the tire and held in place solely by the inflation of the tire, and which is reversible.” The secret to his patented tire chain was that it would be wrapped around a partially deflated tire; once the chains were securely fastened, the tire could be refilled with air.

After receiving his patent for the world’s first tire chain, he founded Weed Chain Tire Grip Company to manufacture and sell the product. During the next several years, Weed’s company did quite well as sales of its tire chains grew.

While tire chains are used almost exclusively in the winter today, during the first three decades of the 20th century, Weed chains were used on unpaved and heavily rutted roads year-round.  Weed chains were critical to safe driving on what passed as roads, helping motorists get through mud holes and other obstacles.

Houdini helps to market the chains

To promote the chains and their effectiveness, Weed challenged Harry Houdini – the legendary stunt performer and escape artist – to be bound by tire chains and to try to free himself. Houdini had been performing for several years, and his handcuff and jail escapes were being copied by others. So in 1908 Houdini began accepting challenges from lock and chain makers to expand his act. He agreed to Weed’s offer to test the restraining abilities of Weed tire chains.

In “The Secret Life of Houdini,” authors William Kalush and Larry Sloman write that on April 10, 1908, Weed representatives bound Houdini in six sets of tire chains and two steel-rimmed automobile tires. Houdini then struggled on-stage at a New York City theater for about half an hour before freeing himself – delighting the audience as well as Weed and his staff. 

Moreover, the stunt generated so much positive publicity that Houdini repeated the challenge the next summer in Philadelphia. That effort earned even more coverage in national newspapers for Houdini and Weed chains.

The company is sold

Weed sold both his patent and company to the American Chain and Cable Company of Detroit in 1912. The Detroit-based company had been founded by one of Weed’s grandfathers, Walter B. Lashar, and it kept the Weed name on the chains.  

For more than 50 years, the majority of the tire chains sold in the United States bore the Weed family name. 

Legacy 

During World War I, Weed served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. In addition to developing tire chains, he designed bomb-release mechanisms and machine gun synchronizing devices used in U.S. Army aircraft. Weed also developed an airplane bomb rack in 1920 that was used by the U.S. military well into World War II. He was later honored by the Army Ordnance Committee for his work.

Weed died in 1961, at the age of 89. His death certificate simply listed his occupation as “inventor.” 

FreightWaves Classics thanks syracuse.com, old.gas.com, Suiter Swantz Intellectual Property and Wikipedia for information and photos that helped make this article possible.

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Editor: Scott Mall