Massey-Ferguson

Massey-Ferguson made farm machinery from Toronto. Daniel Massey’s Newcastle foundry opened in 1847, moved to the city in 1879, and merged with A. Harris of Brantford in 1891 as Massey-Harris. The firm joined Harry Ferguson in 1953 and took the Massey-Ferguson name in 1958. The King Street West works built binders, then tractors and combines. Combines were also assembled at Brantford.

After the 1891 merger it was the largest farm-machinery maker in the British Empire. The Toronto plant was a major employer, and the machines went out as one of Canada’s manufactured exports.

Why it mattered

Massey-Harris was the largest farm-machinery maker in the British Empire after the 1891 merger and supplied Canadian and export markets with binders, tractors and combines. The Toronto plant was a major industrial employer; the brand became one of Canada's best-known manufactured exports.

Now

Losses in the 1980s put the corporation into a reorganization as Varity. Toronto manufacturing had ended by the mid-1980s; the King Street works were demolished, leaving the 1899 office. The Brantford combine plant closed in 1988. On 29 June 1994 Varity sold the Massey Ferguson farm-equipment business to AGCO of the United States. The name is an AGCO brand. There is no Massey plant in Canada.

Changed hands (1994) · Now: AGCO (Massey Ferguson brand) / Varity Corporation