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The Tractor Sales War
The battle for tractor sales caused industrial competition of epic proportion. The first
shot of the tractor sales war was heard when Henry Ford and his Fordson tractor entered
the battle in 1917. The Fordson was light, reasonably powerful, and economical. In addition,
it had all of Ford's marketing savvy and tremendous reputation behind it. More importantly,
The tractor was to be sold through Ford's extensive network of car dealerships. Although
many dealers were reluctant to sell and service tractors Ford ruthlessly compelled them to do so.
Ford farm tractor sales soon accounted for 75 percent of the tractors
sold, tractor sales in 1919 alone amounted to more then most farm tractor manufacturers sold in
the past decade. Ironically Fords decision to sell tractors through car dealerships help in the short term.
Over the long term it proved to be a major factor in the Fordson's eventual demise.
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Nearly all Ford's competitors handled tractor sales as part of a "long-line"
implement business. And sold tractors through their dealer network that also
attempted to offer one or more models of every implement that the farmer might need.
At first the established implement and tractor makers were unequipped to compete
with Ford. But as they recuperated from the initial
shock of the Fordson's assault, and as they saw other automakers preparing to
exploit the wartime tractor sales boom, the old farm equipment
companies set about a frantic program of reassessment and retooling. A two stage
tractor war commenced. In the first, the automotive industry and the
implement industry fought to see which would control the construction and
sale of tractors. In the second stage, after the bulk of the automakers withdrew
from selling tractors, |
Above
Through the years tractor sales have experienced a number of boom and bust cycles.
Mass production deepened competition for tractor sales. That competition refined
the tractor in countless minor ways, and the accumulative consequence of those minor
improvements was substantial.
click on image to
enlarge
Ford Motor Company challenged International Harvester, the leader of the farm equipment industry.
A severe economical downswing stunned everyone in 1920. The Ford Motor Company was especially unprepared.
Ford had just spent $60 million on the River Rouge plant. In addition, some $20 million was spent on shareholder
settlements, and another $15 million was used to purchase coal and iron mines. These expenditures, combined with
the buyout of the stockholders, left Ford with serious cash flow problems. |
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Above When Ford cut his price to
$395 it signaled the end of the line for a large number of the independent tractor makers.
Ford had scheduled output of 300
Fordsons per day for 1921. By the time the seriousness of the recession was recognized, the yards around the
Rouge plant were filled with unsold tractors. Henry knew what to do. He first cut the $785 price to $620. Other
tractor makers followed suit, so Ford further cut his price to $495. And soon followed with a industry shocking
$395. An estimated lose of $300 for each tractor sold. This was the end of the line for a large number of the
independent tractor makers.
Left
Ford dominated tractor sale even before he cut the price of his ford tractor. For other farm tractor
companies it was time to do or die. IHC slashed its prices, selling Titan 10-20s for $700 and
International 8-16s for $670. Hart Parr cut tractors prices nearly half off. |
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Ford Tractor
Sales vs International Tractor Sales |
| Year |
Tractor |
Total |
International |
Tractor Sales |
Ford |
Tractor Sales |
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Production |
Manufactures |
Tractor Sales |
IHC's Share |
Tractor Sales |
Ford's Share |
| 1915 |
21,000 |
61 |
5,841 |
28% |
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| 1916 |
29,670 |
114 |
11.571 |
39% |
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| 1917 |
62,742 |
124 |
16,101 |
26% |
259 |
0.4% |
| 1918 |
132,697 |
142 |
25,269 |
19% |
34,000 |
26% |
| 1919 |
164,590 |
164 |
26,933 |
16% |
54,000 |
33% |
| 1920 |
203,207 |
166 |
28,419 |
14% |
58,000 |
29% |
| 1921 |
68,029 |
186 |
17,762 |
26% |
13,000 |
19% |
| 1922 |
98,794 |
116 |
11,781 |
12% |
62,000 |
63% |
| 1923 |
131,908 |
93 |
12,026 |
9% |
100,000 |
76% |
| 1924 |
116,808 |
64 |
18,749 |
16% |
78,000 |
67% |
| 1925 |
164.097 |
58 |
32,588 |
20% |
100,000 |
61% |
| 1926 |
178,074 |
69 |
50,900 |
29% |
NA |
NA |
| 1927 |
194,913 |
61 |
55,727 |
29% |
NA |
NA |
| 1928 |
171,469 |
51 |
94,148 |
55% |
40,000 |
23% |
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Battle for Tractor Sales Automobile vs Implement Companies |
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Tractor Sales in the U.S. are somewhat unusual and stand
in contrast to the rest of the world. Almost all of the
world's automobile manufacturers sell or sold tractors,
for example, England's British Leyland and Austin,
France's, Renault, Germany's Benz and Porsche, Italy's Fiat,
and Alfo Romero, and Japan's Mitsubishi all sold tractors. In the United States alone, the implement industry was strong enough to dominate tractor
sales and integrate tractors sales into the implement industry. Long line companies like International, John Deere, Case, and Allis-Chalmers exploited
its familiarity with the farm equipment industry to introduce innovations that met the needs of working farmers better than automobile manufacturers.
Left
French auto maker Renault produced tractors like this model VY diesel sold until 1939.
click on image to enlarge
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Right
Porsche Junior K diesel
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche creator and founder of Volkswagen and Porsche cars also designed and built several tractor models
over the years. During World War I, Porsche worked for Austro-Daimler of Austro-Hungary, where he developed large four wheel drive
gun tractors as well as a lightweight farm tractor prototype.
Working in Germany in 1937, Porsche revived his Austro-Daimler tractor prototype to create his Volksschicpper, or "People's Tractor,"
in much the same way that his Volkswagen was to be a People's Car. In 1957 the German Mannesmann engineering group acquired the Porsche tractor license and
built Porsche tractors; the range then included one, two, three, and four-cylinder Junior, Standard, Super, and Master models spanning 14 to 50 horsepower
with 90 percent parts commonality. In 1964, Renault took over Porsche tractor, and the Porsche name disappeared from the tractor industry.
click on image to enlarge
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The Battle for
Tractor Sales That Never Was: Ford vs Chevy |
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For a short while it looked as if the battle for tractor sales would pit the American auto industries two greatest combatants.
Attempting to take advantage of the boom in tractor sales 1917 Giant General Motors bought the Samson Tractor Works of Stockton,
California. General Motors then bought a plant at Janesville , Wisconsin, to build their Samson tractor.
General Motors announced that the new tractor would be sold by their car dealers and that it would be priced to compete with Fordson.
Samson's advertising emphasized that it was a division of General Motors, "manufacturers of the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Oldsmobile
cars all quality products. The Samson is a quality tractor." In stressing quality, General Motors apparently was referring to Ford tractors as cheap.
Ford entered the battle for tractor sales at the perfect time, the 1920 downturn saw GM enter at the worst. GMC experienced huge losses in its attempt
to sell tractors, got out of the tractor business in 1922, and converted the Janesville plant to a Chevrolet truck assembly factory. Later, Fortune
reported that General Motors had lost $33,000,000 on their failed attempt to sell tractors.
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Tractor Sales
in the 1930's |
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If anyone in the tractor business had thought selling tractors in the 1920s was hard, far worse was to come.
When the Great Depression hit in the 1930's all industries were hit hard. Unlike other industries, weather also play
a large part in the success and failure of tractor sales.
and in 1934 the worst drought in U.S. history enveloped the nation. The massive drought impacted 27 states severely
and affected more than 75 percent of the country. It triggered the "dust bowl" that turned hundred million acres into
wasteland. Hundreds of millions more areas of farm fields lay dry and unproductive. The agricultural devastation
helped to lengthen the Great Depression, whose effects were felt worldwide.
Left
The dust bowl forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their farms. Farm equipment was sold for pennies on the dollar or
abandoned all together like this tractor buried in a sand drift. |
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The 1920's had concluded on a high note for tractor sales in the United States, tractor sales reached 229,000 tractors in 1929. The next year saw a mild fall, to 202,000. But by 1932, actual tractor sales in the U.S. slumped to just 19,000. Including exports, it was a catastrophe. In just three years tractor sales had fallen to less than one-tenth of the previous tractor sales figure.
Just as in the tractor sales slump of 1920, many smaller tractor companies went out of business. In 1921, there were nearly 200 manufacturers; a decade and a half later, only twenty were left. And of those twenty, just nine
accounted for ninety percent of U.S. tractor sales.
International Harvester Co
was number one in tractor sales and now had three factories busy building tractors in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Rock Island.
John Deere
was doing well, too, making a virtue of the simplicity of its two-cylinder tractor and offering grace to farmers debt on purchased tractors that over time would create long reaching
loyalty to the John Deere brand.
J.I. Case Co
was third, thanks to the up-to-date Model L and Model C launched in 1929 to replace the aging Crossmotors. Fourth biggest was the Canadian company,
Massey Harris
. Then came Oliver that recently merged with Hart-Parr an established name in the industry.
Minneapolis-Moline
was another product of merger,
the company was a consolidation of the Moline Implement Co., the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Co. (builders of the Twin City tractors) and the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co. (builders of Minneapolis tractors).
three companies joined to form one that could survive. Then came
Allis Chalmers
, Included in the nine, were two crawler manufacturers: Cleveland, and Caterpillar |
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The Raising
Star of
Tractor Sales |
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Allis-Chalmers's part in the tractor industry far transcends the company's size at the outset of the era. In 1929,
Allis Chalmers
controlled a small four percentage of the tractor sales. A decade later, in 1939, Allis-Chalmers was the third in
tractor sales, behind International Harvester and Deere. Part of the reason for that growth were the tractors that Allis-Chalmers
sold in the 1930s. In 1928
Allis Chalmers
bought the old Monarch Tractor Company. A year later, they took over the La Crosse
Plow Company, and in 1939 acquired the venerable Advance-Rumely Corporation. Thus in three years, the huge company added a
long-line implement business to the conventional heavy industrial activities. Monarch and Advance-Rumely
gave the company the experience and the dealer network to compete in both light and heavy tractor sales.
Left
The Model B brought the farm tractor to the small farmer.
The B was designed to be cheap enough for use on even average or smaller-than-average farms.
Tractor sales of the little Allis reached nearly 121,000 tractors
click on image to enlarge
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Through La Crosse they gained the essential tillage tools and farm implements to sell which aided dealers with tractor sales.
Mergers and acquisitions were nothing new, they had and would remain quite common in the rapidly changing
and volatile battle for tractor sales .The fact that Allis-Chalmers's fashioned an efficient implement
company out of these various companies was remarkable, but the quickness of the resulting success was still
more spectacular. It's hard to image that International Harvester, John Deere and especially Case
(which dropped to 4th in tractor sales) marveled at Allis-Chalmers's success.
First, Allis-Chalmers remained abreast of every important technological advance and initiated two of the most substantial
innovations: rubber tires and one-row tractors. Second, Allis-Chalmers focused on developing an aesthetically pleasing and
distinctive tractor. Harry Merrit, president of Allis-Chalmers Corporation repeatedly underscored
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that his tractors were to
have, in his words, "sex appeal." That quality may be hard to define when used with tractors, but tractor sales figures support Merrit's assessment.
When Allis-Chalmers's tractors first emerged wearing "Persian Orange" paint, other tractor makers thought them "vulgar."
Farmers, however, apparently preferred the color to the lackluster gray that coated most brands. The bright color was
eye-catching and identifiable. Allis-Chalmers also sold its tractors at a lower price than
the competition. Presumably the lower price was possible in part because of cheaper design and cheaper construction, but a major factor was
Allis-Chalmers's willingness to accept a smaller rate of return in order to achieve tractor sales.
Right
The Model U had a number of firsts for both Allis Chalmer's and the farm tractor
industry. The U was the first AC tractor for sale with
what would become the companies signature color. And the
first tractor sold with rubber tractor tires as standard
equipment
Tractor sales of the U reach 19,000.
click on image to enlarge
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Farmall A Tractors
The Farmall A was introduced in 1939. The Farmall A had the same engine as its predecessor, the F-12 and F-13 however; the engine was to the left of
the operator seat. It came with rubber tires and a four-speed transmission... The A was available with either a gasoline or kerosene engines and it
was equipped with PTO and a belt pulley that was at the back rather than the side.
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Antique Farming Top Visited Pages |
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Ford 8N Tractor
Ford 2N production stopped in July 1947 and 8N tractor production took over.
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Fords First Tractor
The Fordson was the first mass-produced tractor and revolutionized the industry
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Ford Tractor Conversions
Over one hundred companies offered kits to convert Ford'
s popular car
into a Ford Tractor.
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Massey Harris Tractors
Take a look at the roots of the Massey Ferguson Tractor
Company visit our Massey Harris Tractor page
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John Deere Tractor Model M
John Deere's Utility Tractor designed to replace the John Deere Model H,
John Deere Model L and Model LA
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Dairy Barn
The history of the dairy Barn and the work saving barn tools
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Tractor Sales Leader |
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International won the tractor wars of the 1920's holding
the position as leader in tractor sales until 1939,
when the introduction of a new line of
Farmalls
was spoiled by a partnership between Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson that brought the
Ford Tractor
back to the United States. Ultimately the innovation that tractor introduced would produce the
Ford 8N
the all time leader in tractor sales.
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First Tractor Sales Leader |
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Hart-Parr became the tractor sales leader in this earliest period of the production farming tractor.
In 1907, Hart-Parr'
s tractor sales accounted for one-third of the 600 tractors manufactured in the United States.
By 1910, the company had tractor sales totaling of 2,000 tractors. |
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World Tractor Sales |
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1920 Austin Farm Tractor
The effects tractor sales of the Fordson were felt world wide. Herbert Austin could be viewed as Great Britain's Henry Ford,
and like Ford had the ambition to build cheap, mass-produced tractors. Austin launched his own machine in 1919 after importing
American tractors for a short time. Realizing he couldn'
t compete with tractor sales with the
aggressively priced Ford, Austin attempted to sell the production rights to GMC, without success. In the end, a partial solution
was found and he built the tractor in France, this being a protected market that reduced the Fordson's price advantage.
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JOHN DEERE D |
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John Deere's
first reaction to Fords dominance in tractor sales was the
John Deere D
Before Deere's acquisition of Waterloo Boy, their engineers had been working on a modern version.
to replace the outdated Waterloo Boy.
John Deere
engineers quickly picked up on it and developed it
into the first production two-cylinder tractor to be called a John Deere. It was introduced in 1923,
and to say that the
Model D
was a success would be an understatement. Its 30-year production run was
longer than any tractor model to date. With tractor sales reaching 160,000 units.
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FORDSON |
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Fordson
By 1928, Ford Motor Company discontinued building the Fordson in North America, The European market was not yet affected,
so Ford decided to transfer all Fordson production to Cork. Henry Ford said he needed the factory space for the new Model A car.
When production in Detroit ended the Fordson's tractor sales had reached 850,000 units.
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1930's Tractor Sales |
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Tractor Tires Pull Tractor Sales Out of Depression
The first tires for
farm tractors were sold in 1932. and started one of the most rapid and striking influence on tractor sales
Less than three years later, in 1935, nearly 20,000 tractors (14 per cent of the wheel tractor sales) were equipped with rubber tires at the factory. That figure kept jumping spectacularly. In 1936, it was 31 per cent; in 1937, it was 42 per cent; in 1938, it was 65 per cent; in 1939, it was 83 per cent. And in 1941 more than 90 per cent of all wheel tractors were sold on rubber.
This swing to rubber in the short space of five years is astonishing in it'
s self. But considering the
tractor tire
option cost nearly $200 and it occurred during the great depression and the worst drought in U.S. history makes the rapid change even more astonishing
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Ford Model T Tractor |
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Farm Tractor Conversions
Quite a number of Ford Model T to
Ford Tractor conversion
kits were sold. It was not uncommon to see a Ford car pulling a plow out in a field in the
"Model T" days with a contraption similar to the Pullford conversion kit that
replaced the back wheels.
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Implement History |
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In earlier days when horses provided almost all farm power, implements such as binders or mowers drew their
power from a bullwheel, a large wheel with cleats or lugs that was forced to turn as the implement ran over the ground.
When conditions were good, the implements wheels rolled and turned the rest of the machinery, but when the ground was
soft or muddy, the wheels often slid along under motionless shafts and cogwheels. Yet this crude system continued well
into the
farm tractor era.
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