The Colourful History of John Deere Articulated Dump Trucks
John Deere was born in Vermont, USA, in 1804, and he quickly became a competent blacksmith under the threat of Bankruptcy.
He moved to Illinois in 1836, where he opened a large workshop to fix things within the local community.
He made pitchforks, shovels and other tools. John Deere did something no other had done; he created a steel plough.
Typical ploughs were made from iron or wood and were notoriously difficult to clean, with thick, caked mud covering the device after a few hours of work.
Business Partnership
In 1842, Deere entered into a business partnership with Leonard Andrus. They acquired land on the banks of Rock River, Illinois, to build a factory.
The product was a steel plough, of which they made around 100 units in 1842, which doubled the following year, but their partnership ended in 1848, and Deere moved to Oline to access the railroad.
Factory Relocation
Having relocated to Oline, the company began to produce approximately 200 ploughs a year, and his new partners, Robert Tate and John Gould, were keen to expand.
Being very ambitious, John Deere soon bought out his partners to own the company outright and introduced his son Charles to the business.
Fast forward to today when you have John Deere Articulated Dump Trucks used in the mining industry, which move massive volumes of material 24/7.
Marketing for Expansion
Young Charles had great business acumen, and in 1869, he approached businesses intending to market his products, which were all focused on agriculture.
After Charles passed away, his son-in-law William Butterworth took up the reins and aggressively marketed to the farming community, introducing the tractor.
John Deere Tractors
The model that took off was the Dain All-Wheel-Drive, which sold well. Butterworth acquired the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company, which made tractors, and the Deere Company sold Waterloo tractors until 1923 when the John Deere Model D tractor was introduced.
In 1927, the company unveiled its first combined harvester. Then came the John Deer No 1 tractor, and in the 1930s, Deere pioneered slope harvesting, which was ground-breaking at the time.
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The War Years
The company produced military-style tractors and transmissions during WWII for the M3 tank. They also produced ammunition; the company went back to work developing farming machinery when the war ended.
Like most US businesses, the Deere Company joined in the war effort, contributing to the allied push in Europe that eventually led to the war’s end.
Self-Propelled Combine Harvester
The development of a self-powered harvester came in 1947, with the Deere Model 55, with 45 and 40 versions quickly following.
A much bigger model, the 105, arrived on the scene in the mid-1960s, and detachable heads allowed farmers to harvest a wide range of crops.
John Deere started a company that made great strides in the development of farming implements and, of course, tractors.
Earthmoving equipment is another sector that Deere focuses on, supplying the mining industry with heavy equipment.
