Ageless Iron

In 1953, Deere came to the inevitable conclusion that their 42-year reliance on a two-cylinder engine could no longer sustain the company.

While not financially strapped, Deere still faced a funding shortfall. Its chief competitor, International Harvester, had just introduced the game-changing row-crop tractor, the Farmall Regular.

The inside story of restoring Stella.

In the late 1920s, the European corn borer was having its way with the crop. A USDA program set out to provide farmers with a tractor and PTO-driven stalk shredder for rent at $1 an acre.

The Deere Rotary Drop Corn Planter quickly caught the eye of farmers who were tired of operating manual corn planters.

The success of Deere & Company was far from destiny, and it was definitely not a certainty. Numerous times throughout the esteemed firm’s 175 years, adversity threatened to undermine its success.