The History of the Champion Tractor Manufacturer: John Deere
John Deere is one of the largest tractor manufacturers in the world. In addition to the tractor, the company produces other agricultural machinery. John Deere is an American tractor company with its headquarters in Moline, Illinois. The John Deere tractor and logo are recognized by their colors of green and yellow and are commonly seen all over rural America as well as other parts of the world. The John Deere company slogan is “Nothing runs like a Deere” which correlates to its green logo with a yellow running deer.
The inventory John Deere was an American blacksmith born in 1804 in Rutland, Vermont. He completed his apprenticeship as a blacksmith in 1825. John Deere found that sewing needles that were polished were much easier to use thus he applied the concept to plow spikes. He invented the first steel plow that used polished self-scouring steel spikes. These self-scouring steel spikes broke the ground much easier and by 1841, John Deere was selling 75 to 100 of them each year. In 1859, John Deere's son Charles took over the company. He was only 21 years old at the time and would run the John Deere Company for another 49 years.
John Deere (the company) entered the tractor business in 1912. In 1918, the company purchased Waterloo Boy Tractors in order to increase its tractor production capability. In 1923, the company released the John Deere Series D tractor and that series continued in service for an additional thirty years. John Deere released several letter and number series editions of tractors as follows: D (1923), GP (1928), A (1934), AR (1925), B (1935), G (1938), H (1939), L (1937), M (1947), and R (1949). The Series R was the first of the John Deere line have a diesel engine.
The John Deere Series A was its first general purpose tractor. This tractor had many innovative features that made it popular such as a spring-mounted tractor seat that could be adjusted to the driver's weight, a narrow radiator and fuel tank so that work could be observed from both sides, and easier steering.
The John Deere Series B had all the features plus of the Series A plus more yet was smaller. It was two-thirds the workhorse in terms of power and size to the Series A but had more advanced features. It had features like four speeds, narrow design, and adjustable rear wheel tread.
The John Deere Model M was released to replace the H and L models. It featured an upright, 4” x 4” square 2-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 20 horsepower. It had other modern features such as Touch-O-Matic hydraulics and an electric starting system. Its Quicktach hitching system allowed the farmer to use more than 20 farming implements.
In the early 1950s, John Deere started releasing its number series. Production of the letter-series tractor stopped and John Deere went on to release the following numerical series: 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80. In 1959, the two-cylinder tractor design was dropped and John Deere released the 8010 and 8020 series which had six-cylinder engines. In the following year, John Deere released the 1010, 2010, 3010 and 4010 models. After 1959, tractor models could be purchased in four or six-cylinder designs. The middle 1960s saw the release of the 1020, 2020, 3020, 4020 and 5020 models.
John Deere continues today as one of the world's largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment. The company has operations in 27 countries across the globe yet still maintains its headquarters in Moline, Illinois.
Here are some of my favorite John Deere products. My son has the toolbelt set and the Sit n Scoot Buck he absolutely loves both of these products. If you have a kid or grandkid I would take a look at those.
