The Rural Voice, 2002-11, Page 23together to give a historical rundown
on Massey -Harris.
It began with Daniel Massey
(1798-1856) who started the Massey
line of farm equipment in New
Castle, east of Toronto, in 1880.
Alason Harris (1816-1894) merged
his Hamilton company with Massey
in 1891 and Massey -Harris was born.
The company had lasting power and
enjoyed its heyday in the 1940s and
1950s when Massey -Harris was a
world leader with a network that
extended throughout the British
Empire and in other countries.
"One of their sayings was, 'The
sun never sets on Massey -Harris',"
Perry said.
In the early 1950s, Massey com-
bines gained much fame through
the Harvest Brigade, a fleet of 12
to 20 combines which followed the
wheat harvest from Texas and New
Mexico to Saskatchewan and
Alberta. A crew from Massey -Harris
supplied a support team which
followed the fleet.
Most Massey -Harris tractors were
made in Racine, Wisconsin although
the company headquarters were
located on King Street in Toronto.
The exception was for the Pony
model that was made in Woodstock,
Ontario. The combines were made
first on King Street and later in
Brantford.
The company structure began to
change in 1953 when Massey -Harris
merged with Ferguson to form
Massey -Harris -Ferguson. Massey -
Ferguson was created in 1957 when
the Hams name was dropped.
Massey -Ferguson is now owned
by AGCO and Massey -Ferguson
tractors continue to be built in France
and Brazil. The last combine was
built in Brantford by the Massey
Combine Corporation in 1989.
Conrad Black of newspaper fame
owned the company.
Demonstrations at the October 5
field day were largely restricted to
plowing due to the wet conditions. It
had been hoped a Massey 300 and
Massey 510 could be used to harvest
a few soybeans.
The Bilyea Farm is located a few
miles north of London, just west of
Birr. The Twin Power Heritage
Association is based in Ontario and
has 250 members across Canada, in
the United States, United Kingdom,
and Holland.0
4110.
Lloyd Rees ' T, 411,a Ci F ecks
the power' bf hi 'I ' fi arris
30 on a .dynaiiiotn i(i
bydvatitage Farms ��
Wyoming.
Adam and Andrew Paton of Lucan tag along with
George Smyth who uses a Massey -Harris Pony
and P- o pull a Massey -Harris disc plow .
NOVEMBER 2002 19