1920 photos from Baldor Electric in St Louis
We are not Doerr Electric Corporation!
We get plagued with calls about Doerr Electric motors. I knew this brand had existed, but I figured they had been gone for so long before I named my company, that it wouldn't matter. Apparently I was wrong. I will share a brief history of this company (bits and pieces that I learned) and hopefully it will clear up some confusion.
In 1920 Baldor Electric was founded by Edwin Ballman and Emil Doerr (combined their last names to make Baldor). Electro Machines INC was then founded in 1938 by Emil's son Lee Doerr. They rebranded to Doerr Electric Corporation in 1951. They sold to W W Grainger in 1969 and then sold to Emerson in 1986. I believe it was around this time that they abandoned the Doerr name and a lot of their OEM motors. In 1972 Leeson motors was founded by Lee Doerr's sons, Christopher and Daniel Doerr. Their company was named to honor their father (Lee's son-Leeson). I am very interested in electric motor history and I plan to update this information as I my research dictates. For now, this is all that I know. I do have a couple connections that may shed some more history about this time period.
As far as I have researched, we are not related to that Doerr family. We certainly have no ties to the Doerr Electric brand. We do however, sell both Baldor and Leeson motors. I have probably received 1000 calls about Doerr Electric motors. I have not been able to offer a solution to 90% of those customers. Most of those motors are OEM hydraulic pumps motors and gear motors. They are difficult motors to replace without heavy modifications, so all we can offer to do is rebuild them. Most customers would have to ship the motors to us and that makes the repair not cost effective in most cases.
If you have an OEM Doerr Electric Corporation motor, we would be happy to repair it, but a replacement will almost always be off the table.
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