These Little-Known Facts About John Deere Are Explaining So Much
As the slogan goes, “Nothing runs like a Deere.” Since being established way back in 1837 the company John Deere has become the dominant name in agricultural machinery. But how much do you know about the firm that helped to revolutionize the farming industry — and its founder? From bankruptcies to bicycles, here’s a look at 40 titillating tidbits…
40. It all started with a broken saw blade
Recognizing that numerous farmers were having problems with their cast-iron and wooden plows, John had a brainwave. What if you sharpened and polished a broken saw blade to create a much-less-breakable version instead? The word spread and within three years John had produced and sold 40 steel plows.
39. John fled Vermont to escape bankruptcy
You could say that John had some rotten luck during his early years as a blacksmith. Not only did his first two businesses go up in smoke — quite literally, and more on that later — his third also failed to take off. With the threat of bankruptcy looming, John moved from Vermont to start a new life in Illinois.
38. The firm pioneered self-driving vehicles
Forget Tesla. Long before Elon Musk arrived on the self-driving scene, John Deere had already established itself in the field, so to speak. Instead of cars, though, the company was more focused on building tractors that could drive themselves. The firm’s forward-thinking has revolutionized the way in which farmers can work, particularly when harvest time comes around.
37. John never saw a tractor
Although the John Deere company has built many hundreds of different tractor models in its long history, its famous founder never actually saw a single one. The firm only began manufacturing that type of agricultural machinery in 1918. Of course, by this point John had already been dead for 32 years!
