International Harvester was an American corporation based in Chicago that produced a multitude of agricultural machinery and vehicles. It was the result of a 1902 merger between the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms: Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner (manufacturers of Champion brand). International Harvester changed their name to Navistar International Corporation in 1986.

The first major product from International Harvester was the Titan 10-20 and 15-30 tractor. Introduced in 1915, the tractors were primarily used as traction engines to pull large plows and for belt work on threshing machines. In 1924, International Harvester introduced the Farmall tractor, a smaller general-purpose tractor, to fend off competition from the Ford Motor Company's Fordson tractors. The Farmall was the first tractor in the United States to incorporate a tricycle-like design, which could be used on tall crops such as cotton and corn.

In addition to its line of farm equipment, International Harvester produced plows, construction equipment, household appliances, M1 Garand military rifles, jet engines, trucks, school bus chassis, and its highly successful and innovative “light” line of vehicles including pickup trucks/wagons and their related incarnations such as: Travelall, Travelette, Scout (including Traveler, Terra, and Scout II) , all available as rugged four wheel drive off-road vehicles. It also branched out into the home lawn and garden business in the 1960s with its line of Cub Cadet equipment, which included lawn mowers and snow blowers.

Most of International Harvester's agricultural assets were purchased by Tenneco, and merged with their subsidiary Case Corporation (now CNH Global) in 1985, who continue to produce tractors, combines, and equipment under the Case IH brand. The truck and engine businesses remained and in 1986 Internatioanl Harvester changed their name to Navistar International Corporation. The Cub Cadet line was purchased by MTD Products. The Scout & Light Truck Parts Business was sold to Scout/Light Line Distributors,Inc. in 1991.

Today, “Power Stroke” Diesel is a trade name of Ford Motors for the six and eight cylinder diesel engines made by International Truck and Engine Corporation for use in Ford vans, trucks, and SUVs.

References

• Garraty, John A. Right-Hand Man: The Life of George W. Perkins (1960) senior executive 1901-1910
• Robert Sobel The Entrepreneurs: Explorations Within the American Business Tradition (Weybright & Talley 1974), chapter 2, Cyrus Hall McCormick: From Farm Boy to Tycoon ISBN 0-679-40064-8

External links

• International Harvester Digest
• The Binder Bulletin: all IH light trucks technical resource website
• McCormick - International Harvester Collection
• IH Cub Cadet owners club
• International Harvester information
• A club for International Harvester truck enthusiasts

Agricultural machinery | Agriculture companies of the United States | Emergency services equipment makers | Bus manufacturers | Vehicles by brand | Companies based in Illinois

International Harvester | International Harvester | International Harvester