International Harvester began manufacturing tractors in 1909. From 1939 to 1959, it produced the TD-9 tractor, building 59,800 of these models at its factory in Melrose Park, Illinois. Farmers originally used these tractors for field work, but the U.S. military later employed the TD-9 as a light tractor during World War II. The Seabees used the TD-9, along with other brands of light tractors, to build the Navy’s bases throughout the Pacific Theater during the Second World War.