Anonymous Poster
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- Sep 27, 2005
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I just found this article and thought some of you might find it interesting. I know I can't be the only person that is fond of the Farmall name. No luck yet with finding a website for these tractors though.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- McCormick tractors are
making a comeback, but their modern curves bear
little resemblance to the red Farmall models that
dotted the American countryside 80 years ago.
The sleek European-made tractors are more
powerful -- the largest are outfitted with
low-emission, turbocharged 6-cylinder Perkins
engines -- and jammed with modern technology.
One feature, however, bridges the old and new --
they're still red.
Vermeer Manufacturing Co. of Pella and
McCormick International, based in England,
announced an alliance Friday to market McCormick
tractors in the United States.
"We'll be partnering with dealers throughout the
United States starting right after the first of the year,"
said Joe Michaels, former director of agricultural
product development at Vermeer, who will become
managing director of McCormick International
USA.
Vermeer, a leading manufacturer of hay equipment,
will handle parts and service support, as well as
logistics for shipping and distribution of tractors.
"We will have that all in place and be able to
support the product" when it makes its entry into the
United States, Michaels said.
The McCormick brand dates back to Cyrus
McCormick, who invented the McCormick Reaper
in 1831 and built the giant McCormick Reaper
Works in Chicago.
The name first appeared on tractors in 1906, after
McCormick had partnered with Deering,
Champion, Milwaukee and Plano to form
International Harvester.
The last new McCormick tractor appeared in the
United States in 1969.
International Harvester was acquired by Case Corp.
in the 1980s. Then, Italian tractor-maker Landini,
parent company of McCormick International,
acquired the McCormick brand in the 1999 merger
of Case and New Holland. As part of the merger,
CNH Global sold its factory in Doncaster, England,
which had been making tractors since 1949.
The first Farmall ever produced by the Doncaster
plant was described as doing the work of 12 farm
horses. The new range of McCormick tractors --
the CX, MC and MTX series -- range from 73 to
176 horsepower.
Michaels said he was negotiating with Argo Group,
Landini's parent company, about a new baler earlier
this year when the first new McCormick tractor was
unveiled at a trade show in Paris.
He said the Morra family, who owns Argo Group,
asked if the Vermeer family, owners of Vermeer
Manufacturing, would want to work with them on
the tractor.
It was just the kind of alliance Vermeer was looking
for, he said.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- McCormick tractors are
making a comeback, but their modern curves bear
little resemblance to the red Farmall models that
dotted the American countryside 80 years ago.
The sleek European-made tractors are more
powerful -- the largest are outfitted with
low-emission, turbocharged 6-cylinder Perkins
engines -- and jammed with modern technology.
One feature, however, bridges the old and new --
they're still red.
Vermeer Manufacturing Co. of Pella and
McCormick International, based in England,
announced an alliance Friday to market McCormick
tractors in the United States.
"We'll be partnering with dealers throughout the
United States starting right after the first of the year,"
said Joe Michaels, former director of agricultural
product development at Vermeer, who will become
managing director of McCormick International
USA.
Vermeer, a leading manufacturer of hay equipment,
will handle parts and service support, as well as
logistics for shipping and distribution of tractors.
"We will have that all in place and be able to
support the product" when it makes its entry into the
United States, Michaels said.
The McCormick brand dates back to Cyrus
McCormick, who invented the McCormick Reaper
in 1831 and built the giant McCormick Reaper
Works in Chicago.
The name first appeared on tractors in 1906, after
McCormick had partnered with Deering,
Champion, Milwaukee and Plano to form
International Harvester.
The last new McCormick tractor appeared in the
United States in 1969.
International Harvester was acquired by Case Corp.
in the 1980s. Then, Italian tractor-maker Landini,
parent company of McCormick International,
acquired the McCormick brand in the 1999 merger
of Case and New Holland. As part of the merger,
CNH Global sold its factory in Doncaster, England,
which had been making tractors since 1949.
The first Farmall ever produced by the Doncaster
plant was described as doing the work of 12 farm
horses. The new range of McCormick tractors --
the CX, MC and MTX series -- range from 73 to
176 horsepower.
Michaels said he was negotiating with Argo Group,
Landini's parent company, about a new baler earlier
this year when the first new McCormick tractor was
unveiled at a trade show in Paris.
He said the Morra family, who owns Argo Group,
asked if the Vermeer family, owners of Vermeer
Manufacturing, would want to work with them on
the tractor.
It was just the kind of alliance Vermeer was looking
for, he said.
