In this 175th anniversary year of ‘Massey’ it is perhaps appropriate to indulge in some reflections of this iconic name in farm machinery history. The company which has borne this name was founded in 1847 by Daniel Massey, a descendant son of immigrants from Knutsford in Cheshire, England as a farm machinery workshop in Durham county, Ontario. In the next year his business was to become the Newcastle Foundry and Manufactory in nearby Newcastle village. Daniel Massey rapidly acquired patent rights to manufacture other company’s machines and in 1870 the company was renamed the Massey Manufacturing Company. Initial implement production was focussed on cultivation and hay making equipment, then, in 1878, the first ‘Massey harvester – a Reel Rake Reaper’ was introduced. Grain crop harvesting equipment came to dominate, but not exclusively, and by 1879 a new and vastly larger factory in Toronto had been opened and the Toronto Reaper and Binder company was purchased.
Binders became their strength and competition from others was intense, exports as far off as Russia and Asia Minor were being made. In 1887 a branch office was established in London and agencies set up in Australia and New Zealand where Massey binders were being exported to. A significant competitor was just ‘up the road’ at Brantford in the guise of Alanson Harris. Massey and Harris were in intense competition and exhibiting, selling and demonstrating in Europe. On May 6th 1891 they announced their amalgamation both having evolved similar and complimentary grain and hay harvesting lines of equipment. And so Massey-Harris was formed to become the largest farm machinery manufacturer in the British
M-H acquired the two tractor line of Wallis tractors in 1928. The ‘U’ tractor style lasted until 1938. It was M-H’s first truly successful venture into tractors.
Empire. Ultimately manufacturing facilities were to be established in the USA, UK, Europe, Africa and Australia. Acquisition of other companies enlarged their equipment line such as the Bain Wagon company, the Verity Plough company, Corbin Disc Harrows and the Columbia Bicycle company. In 1892 the Massey family bought a 40% share holding in the LD Sawyer company, manufacturers of steam engines, but were not involved with the company’s management which was renamed as Sawyer Massey. In 1900 M-H exported its first Stripper Harvesters to Australia which were in fact based on Australian designs. After the turn of the century M-H purchased the Kemp Manure Spreader company and started manufacturing Iowa Cream Separators under licence. In 1906 King Charles I of Romania purchased three binders for his estates and in 1908 Massey-Harris was established in the UK as a private company.
In 1910 the M-H No.1 Reaper Thresher was launched and capable of 12-25 acres per day. This was a gargantuan leap forward into what was effectively the start of the combine harvester era for M-H. They had been a major world player in binders and were now on the first steps to dominating the world combine market. By 1911 foreign sales accounted for 60% of M-H’s sales and 68% of profits.
One M-H venture which was not overly successful was its selling of Minnesota made Big Bull tractors in 1915 but this arrangement soon folded. Its second tractor venture was licensed production of USA Parrett style tractors in Canada marketed as the M-H models Nos.1,2 & 3 which lasted from 1918-1921. Their next and this time successful foray into tractor production was when they bought the J.I.Case company of Racine and their highly successful Wallis ‘U frame’ tractors which would see them through to World War II at which point a more conventional design was adopted. Another significant tractor event was the launch of their first M-H design tractor in 1932 being the M-H General Purpose four wheel drive being very innovative for its day. In 1930 M-H amalgamated with the major Australian producer of cultivation and harvesting equipment HV.McKay with its famous and very extensive ‘Sunshine’ range of machinery. In both world wars M-H manufactured a wide range of military equipment and ammunitions. They were major producers of tanks in WWIl.
In 1939 M-H’s first significant combine harvester, the M-H 20, went into production, as the world’s first practical and light-weight mass produced combine harvester. This was soon followed by the smaller, but possibly more relevant for the times, M-H 2] which formed the backbone of the famous war time ‘Harvest Brigade’ of 500 combines which followed the harvest from south to north in America ending in Canada. M-H came to dominate the world’s combine market and from the M-H 21 evolved the iconic M-H 726 made in the UK. M-H factories were established in the UK at Manchester in 1945 and Kilmarnock in 1949 to succeed the original M-H assembly plant at Ashburton Road, Trafford Park, Manchester.
The M-H acquisition of Ferguson was to give M-F an extensive range of tractors, cultivation and harvesting equipment as seen in this early American MF poster.
1953 was a landmark year in Massey history in that they acquired the Ferguson companies which gave them the world’s best seIling tractor and implement line, the ‘Grey’ Ferguson, with its associated advanced engineering and design facilities. The company became known as Massey-Harris-Ferguson with a two line product policy of M-H and Ferguson products. This was abandoned in late 1957 and the company re-named Massey-Ferguson. Like M-H had always done in previous years, M-F went on to acquire major companies for their advanced product lines such as Landini of Italy and Perkins engines of Peterborough, England. By 1962 M-F was operating 26 factories in nine countries, diversifying into industrial and construction equipment and in 1967-68, purchasing the German Hanomag line of heavy equipment in 1974. M-F was very much following Daniel Massey’s approach to business expansion by purchasing appropriate companies.
MF became a victim of this approach when it was acquired by AGCO. By 1997 most of the MF companies had been dissolved and the MF name has become simply a brand mark of AGCO.
In 1997 150th anniversary celebrations were held around the world to commemorate Daniel Massey’s founding of the business in 1847. The biggest was a four day event in Ontario, Canada – the home of Massey. There were other major events at Racine Wisconsin and the Carrington Rally in Lincolnshire where the 175th was also celebrated but in lesser style. The passion for Massey heritage has sadly diminished and fewer and lesser celebrations seem to bc planned to celebrate the Massey 175th in comparison to the 150th. I still have the 100th M-H anniversary poster and large posters that were given out by dealers. However here’s hoping that interest in M-H heritage can be revived to complement and give background to the ever rising interest in Ferguson and MF. It is all one long historical journey worth treasuring from its earliest days. And – you don’t need to collect tractors – the memorabilia and literature relating to the 175 years of Massey history is both interesting and fascinating in their own rights.
John Farnworth, published in Ferguson Club Journal No.103, Winter 2022
