Massey-Harris

Massey-Harris was created by merging two companies, the Massey Manufacturing Co and A Harris and Son.

• In 1630 the Massey family emigrated to the United States from England. In the late 1700s Daniel Massey, his wife Rebecca and son Daniel moved to a place called Haldimand Township. Here Daniel purchased land and built a family home.

• The younger Daniel went to live with his grandparents in Watertown, New York, later returning to his parents to help run the family farm.

• Daniel purchased his own land, some two hundred acres near to his parents' farm and as he continued to purchase land and make trips to the United States he became interested in agricultural tools and machinery.

• He set up a small workshop on his farm where he would carry out repairs to tools and machinery for himself and local farmers. Eventually this business became so busy that he handed over the running of the farm to his son, Hart and moved to larger premises in a village called Newcastle so that he could expand his business.

• In 1849 the business was known as the Newcastle Foundry and Machine Manufactory and various agricultural machines such as ploughs, stump pullers and harrows were being produced.

• Two years later Hart Massey joined the company and the opportunities to expand opened up with the opening of the Grand Trunk Railroad.

• Daniel Massey died at the age of 58 in 1856.

• The company became known as the Newcastle Agricultural Works in 1862 and in the following years the company received many orders from Europe.

• In 1870 the company changed its name again to the Massey Manufacturing Co. Charles Massey took over the company in 1871 when his father, Hart, retired.

• Alanson Harris, having formed his company A Harris and Son, became a major competitor to the Massey co.

• Alanson Harris had formed an implement business. His son, John, became a partner in the company in 1863.

• When in 1890 they produced the extremely popular open-end binder, Hart Massey proposed a merger of the two companies to which Alanson Harris agreed.

• On 6 May 1891 the companies merged to become the Massey-Harris Company.

• Over the next few years they were able to buy out smaller agricultural companies, thereby adding to their product range.

• In 1910 they bought out a producer of petrol engines, Deyo-Macey, and this was the start of them building their own engines.

• In 1917 Massey-Harris entered the tractor market, the decision was made to import a tractor into the Canadian market. This tractor was the Big Bull model of the Bull Tractor Co, sold in England as the Whiting-Bull.

• The Big-Bull tractor was already established in the United States and England with its 25 HP engine and three wheel design.

• The tractor was sold for about a year then due to a problem with obtaining parts the import agreement between Massey-Harris and the Bull Tractor Co was ended.

• Massey-Harris then entered into an agreement with the Parrett Tractor Company of Chicago to produce a tractor under the Massey-Harris name for the Canadian market and some export markets.

• The production of the MH1, MH2 and MH3 models commenced in 1919. These featured engines which could run on petrol or paraffin and ranged from 12 HP to 28 HP. Production of these models finished in 1923.

• Massey-Harris next worked with the J. I. Case Plow Works Co of Racine, Wisconsin. In 1927 they were able to acquire the company and used the factory in Racine to produce tractors and break into the United States market.

• In the 1930s Massey-Harris started looking at designing their own tractors. The first tractor was the General Purpose machine but although it was advanced in some respects, it had certain limitations and was not a complete success.

• Further machines were tried - the Challenger, the Pacemaker and the Four-Wheel Drive.

• In 1938 Massey-Harris updated their range of tractors and launced a new moded, the 101. The 101 series was produced through World War II. The original 101 had a Chrysler 201 cubic inch six-cylinder truck engine and a cast iron chassis.

• In 1946 the model 30 was introduced. It had a Continental four-cylinder engine and was produced until 1953.

• By 1948 Massey-Harris had started British production of its tractors at Manchester, England.

• British production started with the model MH744PD. The number 44 related to the Canadian designed model 44 tractor, the number 7 indicated British manufacture and the letters 'PD' denoted that the engine was a Perkins diesel.

• In 1949 a new factory was opened at Kilmarnock, Scotland to continue tractor production. About fifty tractors a week were being produced at this time.

• Massey-Harris, although producing tractors, were struggling to compete with the equipment attached to them.

• Harry Ferguson