NEWS RELEASE
www.masseyferguson.com
For Immediate Release
18 May 2008
CONTACT:
Paul Lay
Manager, Public Relations & Communications
Tel: +44 (0)2476 851209
Email: paullay@uk.agcocorp.com
Images available at: http://www.pagesbureau.co.uk/AGCO_Press/MF/MF_home.html
Massey Ferguson’s 50th Anniversary
Massey Ferguson – The Harvester Pioneers
Massey Ferguson’s heritage of leadership in developing innovative harvesting
machinery can be traced right back to the 1860s when horse-drawn machines were the
latest technology for cereal growers.
Massey, the Canadian company that was one of the earliest ancestors of Massey
Ferguson, achieved its first international success with harvesting machinery in 1867.
That was the year when Massey was selected to represent Canada’s farm machinery
industry at the International Exposition in Paris where it won two gold medals, including
one for a working demonstration of its reaping machine.
The next big step forward came with the self-tying binder, which provided farmers with
the ability to double productivity compared with using a reaper and hand labour to tie
the sheaves. The important design features included a reliable automatic knotter, longterm durability combined with light weight that allowed the horses to achieve a faster
work rate.
The Harris Company, the future partner of Massey as Massey-Harris, introduced a new
binder in 1881 that was a major advance on rival machines, and this was followed in
1882 by the new Toronto Light Binder from the Massey
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factory.
Both companies claimed their machines were the best in the world, and in 1885 they
were able to put their claims to the test at the international harvesting trials held in
Belgium. This event attracted the leading manufacturers from Britain, Europe and the
United States and ended with an easy outright victory for the Massey binder.
The best binders from around the world came together again in another head-to-head
contest in France in 1889 working in a storm-damaged wheat crop. There were 18
entries, but one declined to take part in the contest because, it complained, the storm
damaged crop made its plot too difficult to harvest. The Massey machine was easily the
first to finish and, to emphasise the superiority of his machine, the driver went on to
harvest the laid plot previously rejected by a rival!
In the static tests that followed the working session the Massey Toronto Light Binder
was found to be the only machine that needed only two horses, with all the others
requiring teams of three or four. The judges declared the Massey machine the winner,
describing it as the ‘world’s greatest harvesting machine’.
Leadership in grain harvesting technology continued after the two companies joined
forces in 1891 to form Massey-Harris. A three-year development programme starting in
about 1907 produced the Massey-Harris No 1 Reaper-Thresher, a machine pulled by a
team of horses. In an innovative approach to harvesting, the crop was cut and the grain
was threshed and cleaned and delivered into a bin or grain tank in just one operation.
When the tank was full the driver stopped the machine and the grain was transferred
into bags.
Massey-Harris carried out some of the development and test work for the ReaperThresher project in Australia, with the machine going into production in 1910. It had a 9ft
(2.7m) header and during tests in Australia it achieved harvesting rates of 12 to 15
acres/day (4.8-6ha/day) with a two-man team. Although this may not sound impressive
by today’s standards, in 1910 it was a massive step forwards compared with harvesting
with a binder.
The Reaper-Thresher is now recognised as an important first step in the development of
the combine harvester, and it reinforced the position of Massey-Harris as the world
leader in grain harvesting technology.
Development work to produce improved harvesting machinery continued and there
were two major breakthroughs in 1938. One of these was the start of the production
programme for the Massey-Harris Clipper PTO-powered harvester, the first tractorpowered combine that put the crop material through a straight-through threshing system
with a five-foot wide (2.4m) cylinder. The Clipper threshing system became the industry
standard for combine harvesters, and various versions of the Clipper were still being
produced in 1952.
Another significant Massey-Harris harvesting milestone came in 1938 with the
completion of the final test programme for the first prototype self-propelled combine
harvester. Engineers at Massey-Harris had started work on the project in 1936 and the
result was the new MH 20 harvester, available from 1939 – again sustaining the
Massey-Harris reputation for being the world leader in harvesting technology.
The advantages of the self-propelled harvester soon made the traditional pull-type
machines seem outdated. It was now possible, for the first time, to drive straight into a
field and begin harvesting without having to run down part of the crop with horses or a
tractor. The self-propelled machine was also more manoeuvrable on headlands and
when dealing with short work and awkwardly shaped corners. The MH 20 combine with
its 16ft (4.8m) wide header was another important step forwards, easily out-performing
every other harvesting system in terms of output per man-hour.
In 1941 Massey-Harris followed up the MH 20 with the MH 21. This new model, offered
with the choice of 12 or 14ft (3.6 or 4.2m) wide headers, was not only lighter, but also
less expensive that the MH 20, and soon became the top-selling combine worldwide.
The MH 21 shot to fame in the pioneering Harvest Brigade – a fleet of 500 new combine
harvesters supplied by Massey-Harris to harvest more than one million acres
(400,000ha) during 1944, making a huge contribution to wartime food production. Some
of the combines started work harvesting flax in the southern United States in April,
working their way northwards as the crops ripened and reaching the Canadian border in
September.
Tractor development was the first priority after Massey-Harris and Harry Ferguson’s
company joined forces to form Massey-Harris-Ferguson in 1953, but with almost a 90year heritage of world-beating harvesting innovation and expertise behind it, the new
company didn’t neglect its combine harvester range.
Its first significant development came in 1956 when MHF became the first manufacturer
to produce a diesel powered combine, offering the UK-built 726 and 780 models with
the choice of a Perkins L4 diesel or the petrol and petrol/kerosene versions of an Austin
engine.
The PowerFlow table developed by Massey Ferguson engineers in 1976 was another
important innovation to improve harvesting efficiency and, more than 30 years later it is
still making a major contribution to reducing losses and improving output. Rubber belts
carry the freshly cut material from the cutterbar and deliver it ears first to the table
elevator. The result is a more even feed of crop material into the threshing mechanism,
while losses from the table and the risk of blockages are both reduced. Combine work
rates in oilseed rape, for example, can be boosted by as much as 73% when a
PowerFlow table is used.
While electronics are now accepted as playing an essential role in improving work rates
and efficiency in a wide range of equipment, it was Massey Ferguson that pioneered
their use on combine harvesters. The MF Datavision interactive control and information
system, originally known as Daniavision, was the first of its kind to be fitted in a combine
harvester cab.
Massey Ferguson again instigated another giant leap forward in harvesting technology
in 1991 when it took the farming industry into the space age by demonstrating a
combine equipped with the world’s first GPS-linked yield mapping system. Exhibiting
truly remarkable vision, this was innovation on a grand scale this development was the
first ever step in the development of precision farming - bringing a totally new dimension
of accuracy to field and crop management.
It is more than 140 years since Massey Ferguson’s earliest ancestors, the Massey and
Harris companies in Canada, were setting new standards in the development of more
efficient horse-drawn harvesting machinery. The long tradition of leadership and
innovation is still at the heart of Massey Ferguson’s approach to grain harvesting
technology and the next important innovation is already at an advanced stage of
development. Watch this space!
ENDS
About AGCO
Founded in 1990, AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AG) (www.agcocorp.com) is a global
manufacturer of agricultural equipment and related replacement parts. AGCO offers a
full product line including tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers, forage, tillage
equipment and implements, which are distributed through more than 3,000 independent
dealers and distributors in more than 140 countries worldwide. AGCO products include
the following well-known brands: AGCO®, Challenger®, Fendt®, Gleaner®, Hesston®,
Massey Ferguson®, RoGator®, Spra-Coupe®, Sunflower®, Terra-Gator®, Valtra®, and
White™ Planters. AGCO provides retail financing through AGCO Finance. The company
is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, and in 2007 had net sales of $6.8 billion.
Visit our website: www.agcocorp.com or www.masseyferguson.com