A century ago, in 1923, a machine was introduced that would have a huge effect on the future of the agricultural tractor. Although its main sphere of influence would be in its native North America, this would be the first-ever volume-produced tractor to bear the John Deere name and, in the process, start a dynasty of tractor production that has resulted in the John Deere tractor becoming the bestselling make in Britain, and many other countries around the world.
Designed to take on the likes of the highly successful Fordson Model F, and to replace the outdated tractor designs inherited by John Deere in 1918, the new tractor was called the Model D. It would lead to a whole family of tractors powered by the firm’s own two-cylinder engines and would remain in production right up to 1953. To appreciate the significance of the Model D, though, we first need to travel back to Grand Detour, Illinois in 1836.
Deere & co
John Deere was the man who started his own blacksmith’s business in 1836 in Grand Detour in the state of Illinois, leaving his mark on the agricultural industry when he made his first steel plough the following year,
