In 1987 Deere merged with Australian tractor brand Chamberlain, and 2022 marks 35 years of John Deere tractors on Australian soil. We all know the iconic yellow and green, but there’s more to the brand than meets the eye. Here are some fun facts you may not know.
John Deere had just $73 to his name when he headed west
A blacksmith by trade, Deere was staring down the barrel of bankruptcy in 1836. The American economic bubble had burst, two of his blacksmith shops in Vermont had burnt to the ground, and his wife and five young children were relying on him for survival. A long journey by steamer, canal boat and wagon followed to Illinois where he set up a new blacksmith shop. It flourished and just one year later, he sent for his family.
John Deere never laid eyes on a tractor
John Deere’s breakthrough came by accident. He was crafting a steel blade for a sawmill when the blade broke in half and became wedged in the dirt. As Deere went to pull it out, he noticed it was bent into a concave shape, and was suddenly struck by an idea that would change his life. He was the first to successfully design and create steel plows for a commercial market. From three plows sold to local farmers in 1838, by 1849 John Deere was producing 2000 plows a year. However, tractor production didn’t come into play until 1918, 32 years after John Deere’s death.
More than 700 tractor models have paved the way
This number includes the all-time bestseller Model B - selling a whopping 300,000 between 1935 and 1953, and 45 industrial tractors, 38 backhoe-loader tractors, 70 Lanz farm tractors and eight Waterloo Bay tractors. John Deere leapt into the tractor business in 1918, taking over the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in Iowa. The first John Deere branded, fully green and yellow production tractor was the Model D, built from 1923 to 1953. This became the longest production run of any farm tractor. If you ever find yourself at the Corrigan Agricultural Show in Western Australia, make sure you check out a beautifully restored 1928 Model D owned by a local farming family. The tractor was purchased for £400 (just over $700) and spent its working life in WA’s central Wheatbelt region.
Australia’s wheatfields embraced the first of John Deere’s diesel tractors
The John Deere Model R tractor sold well on Australia’s wheatfields. It produced 51 horsepower and was the first to offer a live power take-off with its own clutch. The innovative design of the John Deere Model R tractor featured two engines which solved problems often associated with starting diesel engines. It could start with the pull of a lever and you could warm it up quickly in cold temperatures. A vintage tractor shed collection at Westbury, Tasmania is home to a Model R that started its working life in 1951 at Kyancutta on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. The Model R is in high demand for collectors, and for many John Deere enthusiasts, the R diesel will always be the cream of the crop.
Every part of the 1928 Model D received some much-needed love and attention .
There’s been just 10 CEOs in this family affair
With almost 200 years to its name, that’s no mean feat. When John Deere died in 1886, the Deere family ran the company for another 96 years. Of those 10 CEOS, five were Deere family members. John C. May has held the role since November 2019.
2022 marks 10 years on from the iconic S Series reaching Australian farms
The cropping industry was transformed by the introduction of John Deere’s self-propelled harvesters 75 years ago. A machinery shed on a cropping property near Narrabri, New South Wales is home to a prized John Deere No.44 Combine, believed to be among the first batch of self-propelled harvesters to hit Australian shores. It arrived in 1951 from the Philippines after being used as a rice harvester and still has rice tyres fitted to this day.
John Deere only ran John Deere and Company officially from 1852-1858
John Deere’s son, Charles Deere, took over the company in 1858 at just 21-years-old and ran it for 49 years. John Deere became a politician, among other roles. His wife died in 1866 and Deere married her younger sister. Between his two wives, he fathered nine children.
Owner Vince Gallinagh behind the wheel of the restored Model D.
The famous yellow and green colours are trademarked
John Deere bleeds yellow and green, and no other company can take that from them - just ask FIMCO Inc. The company was accused in court of manufacturing its equipment in the John Deere colours, running the risk the two would be mistakenly associated. The judge declared the green and yellow to be a “famous” trademark of John Deere, ruling in its favour.
The slogan, “Nothing runs like a Deere,” was first used to sell snowmobiles
In the 1970s, snowmobiles were all the rage and John Deere was there to supply them. It was the official supplier of snowmobiles for the 1980 Winter Olympics, and the catchy slogan came from its marketing of the range.
The leaping deer is the longest continuously used logo of any Fortune 500 company
The deer has evolved over the years - becoming sleeker and simpler - but the greatest change came in 2000 when the deer was altered to leap upwards, rather than landing. Why? To show a commitment to new technologies and being ahead of the game