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1920
Tractor's with gas powered internal combustion engines become the everyday man's normal tractor. (www.livinghistoryfarm.org) -
1921
With bad times in the farming industry continuing, tractor sales plummit. Business shrinks, with extensive layoffs to follow. Wage cuts of ten percent ensue as well. The Waterloo Boy Tractor sales plummit from the prior years 5,045 to 79. (www.deere.com) -
1922
Harry Ferguson develops the three–point linkage for Optimum Power Transmission from the tractor to the plough. Practically every tractor that you can buy on the market today, is sold with this three point linkage system (wwww.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html). -
1923
John Deere Tractor company launches the production of the Model "D". This launch of production was a huge success from the beginning. THis was the first two-cylinder Waterloo-built tractor to bear the John Deere logo and name. The Model "D" stayed on the production line for thirty years. (www.deere.com) -
1924
International Harvester introduced the Farmall tractor. This was the first general purpose tractor witht the ability to pull heavy tillage and harvesting machines, also being able to plant and cultivate row crops. (www.farmcollector.com) -
1925
After the Farmall tractor was released, the John Deere tractor company was determined to produce a tractor of their own to combat the sales. They began designeing the "GP" or General Purpose tractor. (www.deere.com) -
1927
The first mechanical tractor lift was developed during this year. It allowed farmers to lift and raise implements without having to wrestle heavy machinery. (www.farmcollector.com) -
1928
The Ford Ferguson tractor company introduces the 8N tractor whih was the first tractor with 4-Speed transmission. (www.antiquetractorblog.com) -
1929
John Deere's row-crop tractor the "GP" Wide-Tread is put on the market. The tractor is the first Deere tractor with a "Tricycle front to fit between two rows of crops, and a rear axle wide enough so wheels can straddle two rows. (www.deere.com) -
1930
The International HArvester tractor company was produsing and sending out more than 200 tractors a day. This led to almost every manufacturing company producing similar tractors. (www.farmcollector.com) -
1931
Caterpillar manufactures a "Crawler Tractor" with a diesel engine offering more power, reliability, and fuel efficiency than the previously made tractors with engines that used low0octane gas. (www.greatachievments.org) -
1932
The United States manufacturing company, Allis-Chambers Corporation, produces the first production model tractor with air-filled tires, rather than solid metal wheels. (www.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html) -
1933
During this year business was at an all-time low. Business was practically at a standstill with sales plummitting to $8.7 million. Thought the JOhn Deere tractor company was losing money, they decided to keep debtor farmers as long as necessary which greatly strengthened their farmer loyalty. (www.deere.com) -
1934
The hydraulic lift was first developed and introduced this year by Harry Ferguson. He would attactch implements with three arms to the tractor. The tension load on the lower arms and the compression load on the upper arm cause the "Virtual Hitch" point to be near the tractor's front axle which allowed the front end of the tractor to stay on the ground. (www.farmcollector.com) -
1938
Ford Ferguson introduces the 9N tractor which features a Rear Power Take-Off PTO which allows the user to use a Sickle Bar Mowers, and set the future for tractor developements. (www.livignfarmhistory.org) -
1939
The tractor production company, Porscher, launches the "Porsche Junior". The junior was designed and built as the "People's Tractor." It was designed with a single cylinder diesel motor. (www.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html) -
1940
The tractive unit which is what carries electrical power from the tractor to the implements is standardised and installed on production lines. (www.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html) -
1942
The Ford Ferguson tractor company follows the developement of the 9N tractor with the developement of the 2N tractor which were very similar. (www.antiguetractorblog.com) -
1948
Farmer Frank Zybach of Colorado invented the center pivot irrigation machine. This revolutionizes irrigation technology. The machine is sprinklers attached to arms that come from a long pipe pressurized with water coming from a pump, and slowing moves or "walks" around a pivot point. (www.greatachievments.org) -
1949
John Deere releases their first diesel powered tractor, the "Model R" (www.livinghistoryfarms.org) -
1951
Tractor production reches it's peak year with the building of more than 564,000 tractors. (www.sodgod.com/tractor-history/) -
1952
Ford Ferguson tractors dissapear as the company merges with Massey-Harris tractor company to become the Massey-Ferguson tractor company that still produces tractors today. (www.livinghistoryfarm.org) -
1953
Allis-Chalmers built the WD-45 tractor. This was the first innovative tractor due to it's powershift transmission. It also had a second transmission system for a constant power supply, as well as a hydraulic system, automatic tractive resistance control. (www.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html) -
1954
The John Deere and International Harvester tractor companies team up to produce the first corn head attachments for combines. The head replaces the self-propelled corn picker, which picked the corn and stripped it of it's husks. (www.greatachievments.org) -
1957
John Deere releases the 6 row planter and cultivator which increases productivity by 50%. (www.deere.com) -
1958
The industraial equipment Division of John Deere was officially established this year. Although the company had been doing business in this department for years, this was the year their department became official. (blog.machinefinder.com) -
1963
Up until this year, International Harvester was the leadign tractor producer in the world. John Deere surpasses them and becomes the largest producer and seller of farm and industrial tractors and equipment. After hitting this benchmark, Deere ventures into the consumer market producing and selling lawn and garden tractors as well as attatchments such as mowers and snow blowers. (www.deere.com) -
1966
Total sales surpass $1 billion for the first time. Earnings reach a high of $78.7 million. Farm equipment sales set a record for the 4th straight year. Industrial equipment sales notch their largest ever year-to-year increase. Lawn and garden equipment sales rise 76 %. Worldwide employment hits a record. John Deere introduces the first commercially available rollover protective structures for farm tractors, and later releases the patent to the industry without charge. (www.deere.com) -
1971
The well known slogan "Nothing Runs like a Deere" is used when the company advertises thri snowmobiles, which were an up and coming product of the John Deere Horticon Works. However the slogan lasted much longer then the line of snowmobiles ever did. (www.deere.com) -
1972
Vermeer Company designs and introduces a madern baler whoch produces "big" round bales of hay. The first model produced formed bales that were 6-foot wide, and 7 foot in diameter. The bales weighed more than a ton. (www.farm-equipment.com) -
1973
John Deere releases the Sound Guard Body, which protected the driver from heat and cold. This allowed the driver to listen to the radio (www.livinghistoryfarns.org). -
1974
Deere releases four new "Generation II" tractor models with operator enclosures, also known as the patented Sound Gaurd Bodies. Farm equipment sales then exceed $2 billion dollars for the first time. (www.deere.com) -
1975
In this year, it took a farmer on average 3 to 4 hours to produce 100 bushels, or 3 acres of Wheat using a tractor. THe equipmetn needed for this was a 30-foot sweep disk, 27-foot drill, 22-foot self-propelled combince, and trucks for catching and hauling the harvested corn. (www.thoughtco.com) -
1979
Raven Industries out of Souix Falls, SD developes the forst prayer control system to accurately measure the fllow of materials. (www.farm-equipment.com) -
1980
The John Deere tractor company release a 4-row cotton picker, simply called the John Deere 4-row Cotton Picker. This was in industry first. Field tests concluded that on operator's productivity should increase by 85 to 95 percent. (www.deere.com) -
1984
Ardon Herman, a farmer from North Dakota developed the Diamond disk blade to reduce breakage due to rocks. The diamond shape allows the unit to "float easily over rocks." The blade was manufactured by Summers Manufacturing in Maddock, North Dakota and is still the most popular design for blade shape today. (www.farm-equipment.com) -
1985
The Massey-Ferguson manufacturing introduces an electronic management system to control add-on implements. (www.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html) -
1986
The "Challenger," made by Caterpillar, is the first caterpillar track vehicle with reinforced rubber tracks for better traction when used in the field. (www.cornways.de/hi_tractor.html) -
1987
Caterpillar company introduces the "Mobil-Trac" with it's Challenger Tractor line. This was a rubber track line that was designed for longer wear and less maintenance as well as to be more user friendly. (www.farm-equipment.com) -
1988
By this era in time, too produce 100 pounds or 1/5 of an acre of lint cotton it took 1 1/2 to 2 labor-hours. For machinery, it took a 2-row stalk cutter, a 20-foot disc, 4-row bedder and planter, 4-row cultivator with herbicide applicator, and 2-row harvester (www.thoughtco.com). -
1994
Using new "precision agriculture," farmers begin using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to record locations on their farms to determine which areas need particular quantities of water, fertilizer, and pesticides. The information can be stored on a card and transferred to a home computer. Farmers can now combine such data with yield information, weather forecasts, and soil analysis to create spreadsheets. These enabled even greater efficiency in food production.(greatachievements.org) -
1996
Four mid-priced lawn tractors and two walk-behind mowers were released with the brand "Sabre by John Deere". This introduced the company to a whole new market. They were designed to be sold through national retailers and home centers as well ae the John Deere dealerships. (www.deere.com) -
1998
During this year, John Deere tractor company hit a historical financial landmarkwhen it hit $1 billion dollars in sales. This was not the first for only John Deere but any company in the entire agricultural equipment industry. (blog.machinefinder.com) -
1999
In this year the first ever robotic milking machine was placed on the market for purchase by everyday dairy farmers. It was designed to reduce labor for the farmers and increases production. They were expensive and slowly began to increases in popularity. (www.aginventions.com) -
2000
The John Deere tractor company enters into yet another branch of machinery. In 2000 the John Deere company launched the production and sales of their first ever piece of forestry equipment called the "Timberjack". (www.deere.com) -
2002
John Deere is named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by the Business Ethics magazine, and Crain's Chicago Business magazine names John Deere the most trusted Illinois company, based ona nationwide survey. (www.deere.com) -
2008
Valmont produces the first electronic control panel that will except GPS directions for area irrigation. (www.farm-equipment.com) -
2009
Vermeer Corp. Introduces their new cob harvester to collect corn cobs that are expelled by combines for conversion into ethanol fuels. (www.farm-equipment.com) -
2015
After many years of planning and designeing and trail and error John Deere released their John Deere 4-Wheel Drive Tractor in the series 9RX 4-Track. This was the turning point for John Deere's venture into new tractor designs for this century. (www.deere.com) -
2017
John Deere introduces the prototype for the first ever fully electric powered tractor. The tractor is said to have virtually no noise and have an advantage for night work, or working near residential areas, The battery lasts up to 4 hours in normal use which is the equivelant to driving 55 kilometers down a road. The battery takes 3 hours to be fully charged and has a lifespan of approximately 3,100 charge cycles. (www.precisionfarmingdealer.com)
