Massey Ferguson

[3] The company made some of the world's first mechanical threshers, at first by assembling parts from the United States, but eventually designing and building its own equipment.

The huge complex of factories, consisting of a 4.4-hectare (11-acre) site with plant and head office at 915 King Street West (now part of Liberty Village), became one of the best-known features of the city.

In 1891, the Massey Manufacturing Co. merged with A. Harris, Son and Company to form Massey-Harris Limited,[3][5] which became the largest agricultural equipment maker in the British Empire.

[6] In 1910, Massey-Harris acquired the Johnston Harvester Company of Batavia, New York, making it one of Canada's first multinational firms.

[3] Hart Massey's sons Charles, Walter, Chester and Fred became closely involved in the business and eventually took over its operations.

The US bid was turned down, and control remained in Canadian hands with the sale of the Massey's stock for CA$8 million to Thomas Bradshaw and J.H.

Grain harvesting was revolutionized by Massey engineer Tom Carroll in 1938, with the world's first affordable, mass-produced, self-propelled combine— the No.

During World War II and afterwards Massey Harris undertook a number of contracts to produce tractors, tanks and self-propelled artillery vehicles for the United States Armed Forces.

Its television and radio advertising featured an upbeat jingle with a male chorus singing, "He's a get-up-early, keep-'em-rollin, Massey-Ferguson kind of a man."

Other model numbers included 1075, 1078, 1095h, 1098, 1175 / 1175 S, 1185 / 1185 S, 1195 L / 1195 S-2/S-4, 1215 S-2 / S-4, 1340 S-2/S-4, 1360 S2/S4, 1615 L / S 1615 L, 1640, 1650, 1670, 1690, 1465, 1475 "Super alto", 1485, 1499 SX / 1499 L. In 1955, Massey purchased the Australian manufacturers of Sunshine harvesters, H.V.

McKay Pty Ltd was running the largest implement factory in the southern hemisphere, covering 30.4 hectares (75 acres), and led the international agricultural industry through the development of the world's first self-propelled harvester in 1924.

McKay Massey Harris exported over 20,000 Sunshine drills, disc harrows and binders to England to facilitate the increase in food production.

[21] In the early 1960s, Massey Ferguson moved their head office from 915 King Street to the Sun Life Tower at 200 University Avenue in the Downtown Toronto.

Under Black's leadership, Massey Ferguson instituted significant cost-cutting programmes and down-sized its work force in an attempt to improve its profitability.

In a subsequent series of detailed and lengthy letters to Herb Gray—the then Canadian Minister of Industry under the government of Pierre Trudeau—he remarked on the challenges faced by the firm, and outlined his solution, which would have seen the Canadian and Ontario governments as well as Argus Corporation refloat the ailing firm.

[citation needed] In 1986, Varity spun off several money-losing divisions into an entity called Massey Combines Corporation.

[citation needed] Varity left Toronto and relocated its head office to the Williams-Butler House at 672 Delaware Avenue in the Millionaire Row area of Buffalo, New York.

The Toronto manufacturing complex was demolished and the property sold and re-developed, leaving only its head office building standing.

In 1992, a management buyout of MF Industrial created Fermec, which ceased trading in 2001 when it was taken over by the Terex Corporation, formerly a unit of General Motors.

After a series of mergers and takeovers, the remains of LucasVarity were acquired by the United States company TRW in 1999 for US$6.53 billion.

In 2008, the 8600 series became the first agricultural tractor world-wide to feature Selective Catalytic Reduction emissions technology branded as e3.

[32] In June 2012, the facility in Jackson, Minnesota was expanded to start building Massey Ferguson and comparable AGCO "Challenger" models for the North American market.

The move was made by AGCO's management due to the increased demand for the company's self-propelled application equipment and Fendt track tractors which are produced at the location in Jackson.

Starting in 1964, the next big selling model was the MF135 which became widely popular because of its reliability and power compared to other tractors at the time.

Although the cab did give excellent visibility and a flat floor, being high off the ground meant it was best suited to field operations instead of livestock work.

By moving a switch situated near the floor of the cab, the user could block off flow to the rear hydraulics and link arms, concentrating the full force of the pump on the front loader if equipped.

Excellent power, simplicity of cab, high range of gears and components made the MF 300 series a success especially in Europe.

New generation AGCO Power engines 8700 S Series provided levels of torque and horse-power unsurpassed in conventional tractor design, from the minimum of fuel.

In July 2020, Massey Ferguson launched the change of the tractor lineup, starting with the 8S Series that replaced the 7700S range.

[41] At Agritechnica in November 2023, Massey Ferguson announced the release of the 9S series, ranging in power from 285 to 425 horsepower.

Illustration of the Massey factory in Newcastle, Ontario , circa 1879
Massey-Harris logo, c. 1952
Share of Massey-Harris Limited, issued 18 February 1916
A Massey Ferguson MF 3660 tractor from the early 1990s
Massey Ferguson 6490 from the mid-2000s
A Massey Ferguson 35
Massey Ferguson MF 6290 tractor towing a grain trailer
Massey Ferguson 8740 S in Austria