Massey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson.However in 1958 the name was shortened for the first time to coin the brand Massey Ferguson. Today the company exists only as a brand name used by AGCO, but remains a major seller around the world.

History

The firm was founded in 1847 in Newcastle, Ontario by Daniel Massey as the Newcastle Foundry and Machine Manufactory. The company began making some of the world's first mechanical threshers, first by assembling parts from the United States and eventually designing and building their own equipment. The firm was taken over and expanded by Daniel's eldest son Hart Massey who renamed it the Massey Manufacturing Co. and in 1879 moved the company to Toronto where it soon became one of the city's leading employers. The massive collections of factories on King St. West became one of the best known features of the city. Massey expanded the company and began to sell its products internationally. Through extensive advertising campaigns he made it one of the most well known brands in Canada. The firm owed much of its success to Canadian tariffs that prevented the larger USA firms from competing in Canada.[citation needed] A labor shortage throughout the country also helped to make the firm's mechanized equipment very attractive.

Massey-Harris Co.

In 1891, Massey merged with the A. Harris, Son & Co. Ltd. to become Massey-Harris Co. and became the largest agricultural equipment maker in the British Empire. The company made threshing machines and reapers as well as safety bicycles introducing a shaft-driven model in 1898.[2] In 1910, the company acquired the Johnson Harvester Company located in Batavia New York, making it one of Canada's first multinational firms.

Massey-Harris built models including the Massey-Harris GP, Massey-Harris Pacemaker, Massey-Harris Pony, Model 20, Model 81, Model 101, Model 744

Sawyer-Massey

In a complex turn of events, the Massey family turned to steam engine builder Sawyer of Hamilton, Ontario, and started a line steam tractors. These engines were quite successful and were built in a number of sizes. The 25 horsepower was popular, and the expanding Prairie provinces clamoured for big breaking engines. Masseys also experimented with tandem compound engines. Sawyer Massey lasted only until 1910 when the firm was wound down, and Massey went into oil engines. Sawyer-Massey and Massey-Harris were two separate companys, both managed by the Massey family.

Wallis Gas Tractor and Wider Influence

Massey began experimenting with oil engines about 1910 with engines such as the bulldog. However, success came only later in the 1920s with the Wallis line of tractors which was purchased by the firm. In the 1930s, it introduced the first self-propelled combine harvester. Massey Harris also produced one of the world's first four-wheel drive tractors. Hart Massey's sons, Charles, Chester, Walter, Chester and Fredbecame closely involved in the business and eventually took over its operations. They were, however, the last generation of Masseys to run the company. Other members of the family went on to do other accomplishments: Vincent Massey became Governor General of Canada and Raymond Massey became a noted actor in USA films. The Massey family used their fortune to improve the city of Toronto, and many institutions, such as the University of Guelph, University of Toronto, Upper Canada College, Crescent School, Appleby College, Massey Hall and Metropolitan United Church, were partially financed by the Masseys.

Massey-Harris-Ferguson

In 1953, the company merged with the Ferguson Company to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson, before finally taking on its current name in 1958.

Massey-Ferguson

The company shortened the name to Massey-Ferguson in 1958, and tried to consolidate the two dealer networks and product lines. Its television and radio advertising featured an upbeat jingle of a mens' chorus singing, "He's a get-up-early, keep-'em-rollin', Massey-Ferguson kind of a man." But the company soon began to decline financially. Facing increasing international competition and an agricultural sector diminishing in importance, the firm began to struggle.

Sunshine

In 1955, Massey purchased the Australian H.V. McKay company, manufacturers of the brand Sunshine. Hugh Victor McKay had invented the stripper harvester in 1884, the first machine to combine the functions of reaping, threshing and winnowing grain from a standing crop. McKay later established a manufacturing base at Ballarat, and then transferred to Braybrook Junction, re-named Sunshine in 1907 after the harvester's brand name. By the 1920’s the H.V. McKay Company was running the largest implement factory in the southern hemisphere covering 30.4 hectares (76 acres), and were leading the international agricultural industry through the development of the world's first self-propelled harvester in 1924.

In 1930 the H.V. McKay Company was granted exclusive Australian distribution of Massey-Harris machinery. The company was then renamed H.V. McKay Massey Harris Pty Ltd. Throughout World War II H.V. McKay Massey Harris exported over 20,000 Sunshine drills, disc harrows and binders to England to facilitate the increase in food production.

Landini

In 1959, Massey bought 100% of Landini, based in Italy. Landini has built many models for Massey over the years, especially vineyard and crawler models. Massey sold 66% to ARGO SpA in 1989, some to Isekilater on, and the final portion was sold to AGCO in 2000. ARGO and AGCO still provide models to one another.[3]

Perkins

In 1959 Perkins Engines of Peterborough, England, was purchased. Perkins having been the main diesel engine supplier for Massey Ferguson for many years. In 1990 taking over Dorman Diesels of Stafford to form Perkins Engines (Stafford) Ltd. Followed by Perkins in the 1980s also taking over Rolls Royce (Diesels) Ltd, to form Perkins engines (Shrewsbury) Ltd. Perkins was sold off in 1998 by then owner LucasVarity toCaterpillar Inc. who were a major customer for their smaller and mid-sized engines, Caterpillar being a major producer of large diesel engines for static and mobile application.[4]

Ebro of Spain

In 1966, Massey purchased 32% of the Spanish tractor and auto company Ebro, or Motor Iberica. Ebro had previously built Ford tractors under license, but now began building models for Massey, and Massey models under license. Massey sold its interest to Nissan in the 1980s.[5]

Starting in 1969, Massey Ferguson started producing a line of snowmobiles by the name Ski Whiz. The snowmobile line sold until 1977, when sales declined.

Conrad Black take over

In the 1970s, Massey Ferguson came under the control of Conrad Black. During the late 1970s, production was relocated to a new large facility in Brantford, Ontario. In 1978 Massey Ferguson was the first to introduce an electronic control system for the three-point hitch on a tractor.

In 1973, Massey purchased the German company Eicher, and many Massey-licensed Eichers were built. They later sold their interest, and Dromson now owns the company. They now build specialized tractors for vineyards and such. The mf 135

In 1981, Black donated his shares in Massey Ferguson to the employee's pension plans leading the way to a $250 million government bail-out from the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario for the collapsing company which later renamed itself as Varity Corporation. In the mid 1980s, Varity spun off several money-losing divisions into an entity called Massey Combines Corporation. Massey Combines Corporation was headquartered in Brantford, Ontario and became insolvent on March 8, 1998, and its assets were re-acquired by Massey Ferguson.

Fermec sale

In 1992, a management buyout of MF industrial created the company Fermec which finally ceased trading in 2001 when it was taken over by the Terex corporation. This encompassed all construction equipment from Massey. It was then purchased by J.I.Case in 1997.[6]

Despite some of the companies' hardships, Massey Ferguson was selling 25% more tractors than its nearest competitors at this time. In 1995 Massey Ferguson’s worldwide holdings were purchased by the US-based AGCO Corporation. In August 1996, Varity merged with Lucas Automotive to become LucasVarity.

After a series of mergers and take-overs, the remains of LucasVarity were taken over by the US company TRW. Since 1962, Massey Ferguson has been the world's leading tractor brand.Currently, there are more Massey tractors than any other, worldwide.