| Type | Subsidiary of AGCO |
|---|---|
| Industry | Agriculture |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Duluth, Georgia, USA |
| Products | Agricultural machinery, Consumer & Commercial Equipment, Financial Services, Tractors |
| Website | masseyferguson.com |
Massey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson. However in 1958 the name was shortened for the first time to coin the brand Massey Ferguson. Today the company exists only as a brand name used by AGCO, but remains a major seller around the world.
The firm was founded in 1847 in Newcastle, Ontario by Daniel Massey as the Newcastle Foundry and Machine Manufactory. The company began making some of the world's first mechanical threshers, first by assembling parts from the United States and eventually designing and building their own equipment. The firm was taken over and expanded by Daniel's eldest son Hart Massey who renamed it the Massey Manufacturing Co. and in 1879 moved the company to Toronto where it soon became one of the city's leading employers. The massive collection of factories, consisting of a 4.4 hectare (11 acre) site with plant and head office at 915 King Street West, became one of the best known features of the city. Massey expanded the company and began to sell its products internationally. Through extensive advertising campaigns he made it one of the most well known brands in Canada. The firm owed much of its success to Canadian tariffs that prevented the larger US firms from competing in Canada. A labor shortage throughout the country also helped to make the firm's mechanized equipment very attractive.
In 1891, Massey merged with the A. Harris, Son & Co. Ltd. to become Massey-Harris Co. and became the largest agricultural equipment maker in the British Empire. The company made threshing machines and reapers as well as safety bicycles, introducing a shaft-driven model in 1898.[2] In 1910, the company acquired the Johnson Harvester Company located in Batavia, New York, making it one of Canada's first multinational firms.
Massey-Harris built models including the Massey-Harris GP, Massey-Harris Pacemaker, Massey-Harris Pony, Model 20, Model 81, Model 101, Model 744
In a complex turn of events, the Massey family turned to steam engine builder Sawyer of Hamilton, Ontario, and started a line steam tractors. These engines were quite successful and were built in a number of sizes. The 25 horsepower was popular, and the expanding Prairie provinces clamoured for big breaking engines. Massey also experimented with tandem compound engines. Sawyer Massey lasted only until 1910 when the firm was wound down, and Massey went into oil engines. Sawyer-Massey and Massey-Harris were two separate companies, both managed by the Massey family.
Massey began experimenting with oil engines about 1910, with engines such as the Bulldog. However, success came only later in the 1920s with the Wallis line of tractors which was purchased by the firm.
In the 1930s, it introduced the first self-propelled combine harvester. Massey Harris also produced one of the world's first four-wheel drive tractors. Hart Massey's sons Charles, Walter, Chester and Fred became closely involved in the business and eventually took over its operations. They were, however, the last generation of Masseys to run the company. Other members of the family went on to other accomplishments: Vincent Massey became Governor General of Canada and Raymond Massey became a noted actor in American films. The Massey family used its fortune to improve the city of Toronto and many institutions, such as the University of Guelph, University of Toronto, Upper Canada College, Crescent School, Appleby College, Massey Hall and Metropolitan United Church, were partially financed by the Masseys.
In 1953, the company merged with the Ferguson Company to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson, before finally taking on its current name in 1958.
The company shortened the name to Massey Ferguson in 1958, and tried to consolidate the two dealer networks and product lines. 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." But the company soon began to decline financially. Facing increasing international competition and an agricultural sector diminishing in importance, the firm began to struggle.
In 1955, Massey purchased the Australian H.V. McKay company, manufacturers of the brand Sunshine. Hugh Victor McKay had invented the stripper harvester in 1884, the first machine to combine the functions of reaping, threshing and winnowing grain from a standing crop. McKay later established a manufacturing base at Ballarat, and then transferred to Braybrook Junction, where he took over the Braybrook Implement Company Works and re-named it the Sunshine Harvester Works after the harvester's brand name. Residents of Braybrook Junction subsequently voted to change the name of the suburb to Sunshine after the harvester in 1907. By the 1920s the H.V. McKay Company was running the largest implement factory in the southern hemisphere, covering 30.4 hectares (76 acres), and were leading the international agricultural industry through the development of the world's first self-propelled harvester in 1924.
In 1930 the H.V. McKay Company was granted exclusive Australian distribution of Massey-Harris machinery. The company was then renamed H.V. McKay Massey Harris Pty Ltd. Throughout World War II H.V. McKay Massey Harris exported over 20,000 Sunshine drills, disc harrows and binders to England to facilitate the increase in food production.
In 1959, Massey bought 100% of Landini, based in Italy. Landini has built many models for Massey over the years, especially vineyard and crawler models. Massey sold 66% to ARGO SpA in 1989, some to Iseki later on, and the final portion was sold to AGCO in 2000. ARGO and AGCO still provide models to one another.[3]
In 1959 Perkins Engines of Peterborough, England, was purchased, Perkins having been the main diesel engine supplier for Massey Ferguson for many years. In 1990, Massey Ferguson took over Dorman Diesels of Stafford and merged it with Perkins to form Perkins Engines (Stafford) Ltd. In the 1980s, Perkins purchased Rolls Royce (Diesels) Ltd, to form Perkins Engines (Shrewsbury) Ltd. Perkins was sold off in 1998 by then owner LucasVarity to Caterpillar Inc., who were a major customer for their smaller and mid-sized engines; Caterpillar was a major producer of large diesel engines for static and mobile application.[4]
In 1966, Massey purchased 32% of the Spanish tractor and auto company Ebro, or Motor Iberica. Ebro had previously built Ford tractors under license, but now began building models for Massey, and Massey models under license. Massey sold its interest to Nissan in the 1980s.[5]
In the early 1960s MF moved their Head Office from 915 King Street to the Sun Life tower at 200 University Avenue in the downtown core.
Starting in 1969, Massey Ferguson began producing a line of snowmobiles by the name Ski Whiz. The snowmobile line was discontinued in 1977, due to a decline in sales.
In the 1970s, Conrad Black, whose family had purchased control of Massey Ferguson's parent company, Argus Corporation, became active in Massey Ferguson's management. Under Black's leadership, Massey Ferguson instituted significant cost-cutting programmes that returned the company to profitability. During the late 1970s, production was relocated to a new large facility in Brantford, Ontario. In 1978 Massey Ferguson was the first to introduce an electronic control system for the three-point hitch on a tractor.
In 1973, Massey purchased the German company Eicher, and many Massey-licensed Eichers were built. They later sold their interest, and Dromson now owns the company. They now build specialized tractors for vineyards and such.
However, a world-wide decline in the agricultural equipment market combined with high inflation, high domestic interest rates and a major recession, caused Massey Ferguson to slip into a loss once again. In 1981, Argus donated its shares in Massey Ferguson to the employee's pension plans, leading the way to a $250 million bail-out from the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario for the collapsing company which later renamed itself Varity Corporation. In the mid 1980s, Varity spun off several money-losing divisions into an entity called Massey Combines Corporation. Massey Combines Corporation was headquartered in Brantford, Ontario and became insolvent on March 8, 1998, and its assets were re-acquired by Massey Ferguson.
In 1992, a management buyout of MF Industrial created the company Fermec, which finally ceased trading in 2001 when it was taken over by the Terex Corporation (Terex was formerly a unit of General Motors. This encompassed all construction equipment from Massey. It was then purchased by J.I.Case in 1997.[6]
Varity left Toronto and relocated to their head offices to the Williams-Butler House at 672 Delaware Avenue in the Millionaire Row area of Buffalo, New York.
Despite some of the company's hardships, Massey Ferguson was selling 25% more tractors than its nearest competitors at this time. In 1995 Massey Ferguson’s worldwide holdings were purchased by the US-based AGCO Corporation. In August 1996, Varity merged with Lucas Automotive to become LucasVarity.
After a series of mergers and take-overs, the remains of LucasVarity were taken over by the US company TRW. Since 1962, Massey Ferguson has been the world's leading tractor brand. Currently, there are more Massey tractors than any other, worldwide.
Massey Ferguson developed a wide range of agricultural vehicles and have a large share in the market across the world especially in Europe. The companies first mass produced tractor was the Massey Harris Ferguson TVO which was quickly replaced by the Diesel 20. In 1958 the MF35, the first Massey Ferguson branded tractor (a Ferguson design) rolled off the factory floor. These tractors were massively popular and sold across the UK, Australia, Ireland and the United States.
The next big selling model was the MF135, widely popular because of its reliability and power compared with other tractors at the time. This was the first model in the MF 100 series. These included the MF 135, 145, 148, 150, 165, 168, 175, 178, 180, 185 and 188.The same time the MF 100 series came out, the MF 1000 series was introduced. These include the MF 1080, 1100, 1130 and 1150. Later came the MF 550, 565, 575, 590, 595(500 series). From the mid 70s and early 80s came the 200 series tractor, which included the MF 230, 235, 240, 245, 250, 255, 260, 265, 270, 275, 278, 280, 285, 290, 298, 299.
In the mid '80s the short-lived 600 series was released. This included the 675, 690, 690T, 695, 698 and 699. The reason for poor sale was due to poor looks and cab awkwardness compared to its predecessors. In the late '80s, one of the greatest selling tractors of all time was released- the 300 series Massey Ferguson. Excellent power, simplicity of cab, high range of gears and components made the MF 300 series a success especially in Europe. The range included the MF 350,362,375,390, 390T, 393, 394, 395, 398, and the most powerful and popular Massey Ferguson 399 with horsepower ranging from 72HP to 104HP.
In the mid '90s the 6100 series and 8100 series were released, including the 6150, 6180 and 8130.
Tractors that came after the 300 series included the 4200 range, the 4300 range, 3600 (early 90s), 3000/3100 (early to mid 90s), 3005/3105 (mid 90s), 6100 (late 90s), 6200 (late 90s/early 2000s), 8200 (late 90s/early 2000s), 5400 (present), 6400(present), 7400(present), 8400(present), and 8600(present).
AGCO/Massey factories build tractors for Challenger, Iseki and AGCO.
Massey Ferguson has become famous amongst sports fans in Spain, thanks to an advertisement regularly run on the radio program Carrusel Deportivo. In it, the host Pepe Domingo Castaño relates its many qualities and awards before singing a Corrido about the tractor.
Massey Ferguson is the most widely sold brand of agricultural machinery in the world. The brand and designs are or were licensed to a variety of companies around the world including: