100 Years of John Deere Tractor Manufacturing

12/05/2018

Today, almost 50 percent of all agricultural fields in the world are cultivated with a John Deere tractor. They are produced in 12 factories around the world. And the annual turnover of the transcontinental corporation Deere & Company is at least $40 billion. But there were times when many were skeptical about the management's idea of making tractors.

History of the John Deere Tractor

Exactly a century ago, during the height of the First World War, Deere & Company began its difficult path to leadership in the tractor manufacturing market. It all started then with the production of tractors of the Waterloo Boy series. Prior to this, the corporation was the leader exclusively in the local market in the manufacture of plows and other equipment for cultivating the land.

In 1918, Deere & Company bought out the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company, which was a tractor manufacturer.

The first American tractor John Deere

The premiere flagship product was the Waterloo Boy, with a 12 horsepower engine rating. Only in the first 12 years of production, about 5.5 thousand of these machines were sold. It is noteworthy that some of them are well preserved and still on the move. Pictured is the “Waterloo Guy,” which is currently on sale for $374,000.

During the starting 20 difficult years of production, the company has experienced a lot:

• - the First World War,
• - World economic crisis,
• - workers' strikes,
• - A catastrophic decline in sales from 5 thousand to only 79 units of tractors per year.

But the management, despite the difficulties, did not abandon the idea of producing tractors, continued to work and created several unique machines.

Then, in 1956, John Deere bought Heinrich Lanz, AG in Mannheim (Germany). Thanks to this, production expanded to Europe.

The tractor has become an indispensable tool for farmers

John Deere has always been renowned for its cutting edge engineering innovations, constantly improving its products and solidifying its position in the market.

In particular, the engineers of the corporation were the first in the world in 1954 to introduce steering with an innovative hydraulic booster, and in 1966 they developed a rollover protection system for the machine.

Today, the tractor is no longer designed exclusively for moving field implements. The John Deere tractor has become the farmer's main tool in the fight for a high yield. Coordination with other units and automation of work became possible. So, for example, a baler can call on the tractor's automated equipment to handle many functions automatically.

With the help of a mobile data transmission system, farmers can collect data on the future harvest at all stages: from sowing to harvesting. The introduction of a system of thorough documentation of all field work has made it possible to display in real time important data throughout the production chain, which helps to make the right decisions, for example, about the need to apply mineral fertilizers or chemicals.

This year's tractors will definitely be marked with the prestigious centennial anniversary badge.

Interesting facts about the company:

• - Approximately 6,600 employees work on the Mannheim campus, including 3,000 directly in production.
• - In 2017, 27,100 cars were produced.
• - Two thirds of Germany's tractors are manufactured in Mannheim. Since 1921, about 1.84 million cars have rolled off the assembly line here.
• - The John Deere tractor is successfully exported to 100 countries of the world.
• - In 2016, the cutting-edge flagship 6250R was created, with a maximum engine power of 300 horsepower and with an innovative Command PRO control joystick.

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