From Dain Manufacturing to John Deere Ottumwa Works: Farmers work efficiently with Deere hay equipment John Deere has been producing hay equipment in Ottumwa, Iowa, for 100 years, but the equipment line can be traced back to 1881 when Joseph Dain left his Meadville, Missouri, furniture business to build hay equipment.

He was convinced that farmers could reduce the cost of harvesting hay by using the sweep rakes and stackers he designed. The farmers, however, weren’t so sure. They believed hay needed to go through an initial “sweat” before stacking, and that using Dain’s machinery would cause the hay to spoil.

Through field demonstrations, Dain began to convince farmers that his machines were not only safe for the hay, but also faster and less expensive than the equipment they were currently using.

Dain’s first patent was issued in 1882, and he began producing machines in a small shop in Springfield, Missouri. His early products included an inclined stacker that lifted hay from the sweep rake and placed it on the stack, and an improved sweep rake. Dain’s stacker used steel wire cables, instead of rope, for hoisting the load on to the stack — making the machine stronger and more durable than competitors’ models.

Issue #24

THE PLOWSHARENews for John Deere Collectors

Above: The Dain Manufacturing facility in Ottumwa, Iowa, before the business was purchased by John Deere. Left: Joseph Dain founded Dain Manufacturing in 1881. He sold the business, now John Deere Ottumwa Works, to Deere & Company about 30 years later.

In 1890 another popular Dain product was introduced. The New Dain Hay Gatherer was used to bring hay to the stacker, and was also used in small operations that didn’t have enough volume to require a stacker. The gatherer did away with the need to windrow, shock, and haul hay. It could gather 12–15 acres per day, and handle up to 600 pounds per load.

The business was growing and a partnership with a Kansas City seed and implement dealer gave it an extra boost. The dealer financed a larger factory for Dain and, in return, was given the exclusive right to sell his products.

Dain’s inventions continued to gain popularity among farmers. By 1890 the Dain Manufacturing Company was reported to be the world’s largest producer of hay stackers and gatherers. With a reputation like that, it’s not surprising that Dain was outgrowing another factory.

In 1900 he made what would be a permanent move to a new plant in Ottumwa, Iowa. According to information in the Deere & Company archives, Dain’s initial 10-acre plant in Ottumwa sat on the lines of several railways, so products could be conveniently shipped.

Easy shipping may have been a priority for Dain at that point. By the turn of the century his partnership with the Kansas City firm had ended and he had selling contracts with John Deere branch houses in Minneapolis, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; and Kansas City, Missouri. Within six years, Deere branch houses in Indianapolis, Indiana; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Baltimore, Maryland, had signed on to carry Dain implements.

Dain’s connection with Deere remained strong and in 1905 an agreement was created that gave Deere branches the exclusive right to sell Dain products. The two companies maintained a close relationship, and when Deere began consolidating in 1910, Dain was one of the first companies it acquired. Along with the Ottumwa facility, Deere’s Dain purchase also included a Welland, Ontario, hay equipment business that Dain had operated since 1908.

Initially, Dain saw very few changes as a result of the acquisition. The plants in Ottumwa and Welland both continued operating and Joseph Dain remained in Ottumwa to manage the business. The company’s products, which by then included mowers, side-delivery and sweep sulky rakes, hay loaders, hay stackers, and hay presses, still used the Dain brand.

New products continued to be developed, including a new windrow pickup hay press introduced in 1935. The press helped farmers work faster. A larger feed opening and feeder head allowed it to handle more hay, and a 20-horsepower auxiliary engine made it more powerful.

The business continued to flourish in spite of a major setback in 1947, when flooding from the nearby Des Moines River interrupted work at the factory, by then known as John Deere Ottumwa Works.

In June 1947, The Dispatch, a newspaper published in Moline, Illinois, reported that there was three to four feet of water throughout the plant. At that point the river had crested at 11 feet above flood stage. A month later the factory was still completely surrounded by water.

Eventually the waters receded and production resumed at Ottumwa Works. Even with the flooding, operations were going well enough to support an expansion, and that same year the Ottumwa Works leased

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Above: A drawing from the Moline Dispatch newspaper illustrates Joseph Dain, the inventor. The hay equipment Dain devised was the foundation for his manufacturing business.

Above: Water flowed through the John Deere Ottumwa Works during the 1947 record-setting flood of the Des Moines River.

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eight buildings and 18 acres of land at the nearby United States Naval Air Station.

The new space was needed to accommodate new product lines including one-man combine balers and automatic hay presses. Ottumwa Works also still produced hay choppers, blowers, side rakes, and loaders. About 1,400 people now worked at the factory — making it the largest single employer in Iowa.

The new leased space was just the beginning of a major expansion at Ottumwa Works. Between 1950 and 1960 John Deere Ottumwa Works grew steadily, gaining 50-percent more land and nearly doubling floor space. By 1960 the factory’s manufacturing facilities and warehouses were located in 55 buildings, covering about one million square feet.

The recent flood was a consideration during the expansion. In 1955 and 1956 two buildings, designed to help keep floodwaters away, were built along the northern boundary of the facility’s property. The buildings, with concrete foundations and walls, adjoined each other. Together, their north walls created a 951-foot floodwall between Ottumwa Works and the Des Moines River.

While the factory was expanding, the business was growing to fill the new space. During the 1950s, Ottumwa Works employees developed and marketed 19 types of hay and harvesting machines.

One of Ottumwa’s most notable products during this time was the 14-T Baler. Introduced in 1955, the automatic twine-tie baler could be used with an optional bale ejector, which launched bales into the air and into wagons trailing behind. According to records in the Deere & Company archives, a tractor driver was the only person

needed for this operation. The 14-T eliminated at least 50 percent of the labor traditionally required.

Pairing the 14-T with an elevator and barn bale conveyor eliminated even more labor for hay farmers. For the first time, the whole process of baling and storing hay was a one-man job.

The 14-T Baler’s efficiency made it very popular and helped make 1955 the best production year to date for the Ottumwa Works.

In 1956 the Ottumwa Works brought another new product into its lineup. The No. 10 rotary chopper was designed to harvest sugar-beet tops for silage, but the versatile machine could also chop legume hay for grass silage, dry hay for feed, and straw for bedding.

Further advances in Ottumwa-made field choppers the next year, along with power-unloaded wagons and blowers or elevators, made it even more common for hay farmers to work alone when harvesting their crop.

Products like these continued to gain popularity among farmers, and Ottumwa Works employees kept busy manufacturing hay equipment and more than 15,000 different replacement parts.

The items were shipped from the factory to dealers, first in North America and later around the world. To help make this process more efficient, new loading facilities for railroad cars were designed and implemented at the factory between 1947 and 1958.

The loading updates were in place just in time for a particularly large shipment of balers. More than 630 machines left Ottumwa Works on 82 railroad cars on January 10, 1958. The mile-long train arrived in Kansas City four days later. From there the balers were distributed to dealers in Kansas and western Missouri.

At the time, the load was believed to be the largest single shipment of balers ever. The cargo on the train was worth a total of $1,250,000 and represented about a week and a half of work for Ottumwa Works’ 1,500 employees.

By 1961 Ottumwa Works was manufacturing 21 different models of hay equipment, including six new models developed and marketed at the factory from 1959 to 1961. The new products included a baler, a flair mower, a shredder, a hopper blower, and a rubber-tooth side rake with ball-joint combination steel and rubber teeth.

Product development wasn’t the only area where Ottumwa Works was excelling. In 1977, an energy-efficiency plan was put in place for the factory’s new product engineering facility. As part of the updates, heat-exchange pumps extracted energy from the atmosphere for heating and cooling.

In the 1980s, production of commercial grounds and turf-care equipment began at Ottumwa Works. These products were later transferred to John Deere’s facility in Horicon, Wisconsin.

Today, the John Deere Ottumwa Works is part of John Deere’s hay and forage platform. Round balers, rotary mower-conditioners, self-propelled windrowers, pull-type forage harvesters, and small square balers are produced there. Other types of John Deere hay and forage equipment are produced in Arc-lés-Gray, France; Monterrey, Mexico; and Stadtlohn and Zweibrücken, Germany.

This is the second in a series of articles about businesses that were acquired during Deere & Company’s 1910–1911 consolidation. Throughout the year The Plowshare will mark the 100th anniversary of this milestone.

John Deere Historic Site hosts tractor show Four Midwestern tractor clubs hosted Two-Cylinder Days, a biennial tractor show, August 5–7 at the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois.

More than 100 examples of new and vintage John Deere tractors and implements were on display for visitors to enjoy.

Among the displays were a restored Waterloo Boy, several patio-series lawn tractors, and some two-cylinder industrial models.

Visitors also had the chance to see some rare vintage machines at the event. A slow-speed moldboard plow with unusual options displayed with a 530 Tractor, and an Unstyled BNH — one of just 65 made from 1935 to 1938 — were two of the highlights.

Above right: Examples of some of John Deere’s oldest and newest tractor models were seen at Two-Cylinder Days.

Bottom right: John Deere machines of all sizes were displayed at Two-Cylinder Days at the John Deere Historic Site.

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More than 4,000 employees and retirees and their families celebrated the 100th anniversary of John Deere Ottumwa Works on June 11 with presentations, factory tours, music, and family activities.

Speakers during the ceremony at the Ottumwa, Iowa, facility included several Deere & Company leaders as well as Terry Branstad, governor of Iowa; Dave Loebsack, U.S. congressman; Mark Chelgren, state senator; and Bobby Garland, International UAW representative.

Activities during the celebration included equipment displays, a pedal tractor pull, rope making, technology displays, and a blacksmithing demonstration by Rick Trahan, blacksmith at the John Deere Historic Site.

When Ottumwa Works began operating as part of John Deere in 1911, it was one of the company’s first manufacturing facilities in Iowa. At peak season today, the factory runs three shifts to keep up with customer demand for round balers, rotary mower-conditioners, and self-propelled windrowers. Ottumwa Works also manufactures pull-type forage harvesters and small square balers.

Below: Visitors at the Ottumwa Works’ anniversary celebration were treated to comments from several speakers.

John Deere celebrates 100 years in Ottumwa

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From us to you: Celebrating a Centennial Last year I was one of several employees asked to help plan a 100th anniversary celebration for the John Deere Ottumwa Works. It didn’t seem like a complicated project, and I accepted. Little did I know what was in store for me.

During our early planning meetings the team considered a variety of ideas for celebrations, big and small. Eventually, the ideas were narrowed down, and we created a clear idea of what the event would be like. Committees were formed and the planning really began.

My committee was tasked with developing a keepsake for Ottumwa Works employees. Now, I will admit, as the manager at the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois, I’m always eager to highlight the great things going on there, and I saw this as an opportunity. I brought up the possibility of giving away a medallion, handmade by the Historic Site’s resident blacksmith. The committee agreed, and we decided to make a medallion, designed just for the event, for each Ottumwa Works employee. It sounded like a simple task.

Everything went smoothly until I told Rick, the blacksmith, about the project. He got a long, grim look on his face. He started to stutter and eventually blurted out a phrase I will never forget, “Do you know how long that will take?”

I realized I had forgotten a key consideration when I agreed to supply the medallions. Rick did the math: two minutes to heat each iron slug, 30 seconds to remove it from the fire and stamp it, one minute to peen the edges, then time for it to cool. Once it was cooled we would need one minute to clean and prepare for painting, then about 30 seconds to paint each medallion. The process would need to be repeated 1,500 times. That added up to 125 hours of labor — more than three weeks of nonstop work.

“I’ll help you,” I blurted out quickly — blacksmiths are high on the list of people I try to avoid angering.

We ordered a stamp with a unique design on it, and created a jig to hold and guide the stamp when struck by the hammer. Then the work really began.

We soon found a rhythm. Rick would heat and strike the medallions, and I would peen the edges with a smaller hammer. Things went smoothly — for the first 75 medallions.

I’m no novice with tools. I’ve turned a wrench or two, but I never thought that swinging a hammer could be so strenuous. My arms were in pain, and day one wasn’t even over.

In the end, the medallions turned out great, the Ottumwa anniversary celebration was a huge success, and all the hot days in the blacksmith shop were well worth being able to leave my own mark on the event.

Keep your hand on the throttle and your plow in the ground,

Brian

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West was on a business trip in 1978 when he found the tractor in an automobile junkyard near Riverside, Utah. “It was laying on its side with no rear wheels,” he said. “The junk dealer had moved it by wrapping a cable around the rear of the tractor — crushing the rear fenders.”

In that condition it may have looked like it belonged in the junkyard, but West knew better. He purchased the Model “A” Orchard, Streamlined, or AOS, for $75, and the long restoration process began.

West worked on the tractor in the evenings and on Saturdays. “I freed the engine by alternating cold and hot water through the block,” he said. Once the engine was out, West dismantled and rebuilt it with the original gaskets.

Later, work began on the body. A friend made new fenders for the AOS, but the rest of the sheet metal is original, said West.

This was the first tractor West restored — since then he’s refurbished another 15. His all-makes collection currently includes about 60 vintage tractors.

Deere produced the AOS from 1937 to 1941. West’s AOS was built March 15, 1937 — one of 512 produced that year. It was shipped from Waterloo, Iowa, to Salt Lake City, Utah, and probably sold for about $1,030.

It may look like it came straight from the showroom floor, but Neil West of Bettendorf, Iowa, found this tractor in much different condition.

On display at the John Deere Pavilion: 1937 AOS