Who Was John Deere? The Man Behind The World's Most Famous Tractors

Tractor and John Deere can almost be used interchangeably at this point, due to how iconic the brand has become. In fact, John Deere has continued to shape the tractor industry and refine the popular machine for over 180 years. But the company wouldn't exist today without the man of the same name. So who was John Deere, the man behind the tractor brand that changed farming forever? 

While tractors are typically associated with American farming culture, Britain was actually first to develop a tractor-like machine. A steam powered stationary engine that drove a threshing machine came out of a farm in Wales in 1798, and it took until the 1840s to see both portable steam engines pulled by horses and self-propelled traction engines. Over in America, agricultural contractor John Froelich introduced a steam-powered threshing machine in 1892 and soon added a chassis and wheels to carry a petrol engine. This launched the start of the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Co. in 1893. Unfortunately, the first few that sold were immediately returned, causing Froelich to leave the company. Enter John Deere.

John Deere is a household name today because of the high-end tractors the company bearing his name makes. But before the success, Deere had a few challenges to overcome. 

Born in 1804 in Rutland, Vermont, Deere was raised by his mother after his father was lost at sea when he was just four years old. Throughout his life, he'd been a determined blacksmith. He started at just 17 and eventually established a blacksmith shop in Illinois after the New England economy collapsed in 1836. He worked closely with farmers, learning of their issues with the current plows, such as soil clinging to the bottom of the plows and needing to be constantly scraped off. This led Deere to create a steel plow, which legend says Deere fashioned from a broken saw blade. Despite such a down-home start, Deere's steel plow business became a massive success in a short amount of time. Soon, he was selling 1,000 plows a year. 

Surprisingly, Deere actually managed the company alone from 1852 to 1858, until his son, Charles Deere, took over as manager during another time when the economy plummeted. No stranger to dedication, the elder Deere was president of the National Bank of Moline in Moline, Illinois, and even was mayor of the same town for two years afterward. After his death, Charles took over completely as the business continued to expand. By 1877, the company was making 500 plows a day. 

John Deere is currently considered the best-selling tractor brand in the United States — and the world. 

Since 1837, John Deere has designed and sold almost 700 tractor models. It's also attempted to sell its own line of snow mobiles and bicycles. While those weren't as big of a hit, John Deere still hit $1 billion in profit by 1998. This is considered the first time an agricultural equipment brand reached these numbers. Now, John Deere also controls over 50% of the U.S. market for large tractors. Even though tractor sales in general have declined in 2024, John Deere is still at the forefront of the industry, able to outlast many other competitors throughout the years. 

It was rumored for a bit that John Deere may be looking at selling trucks, but it seems like the continued focus will be its top-of-the-line tractors and other agricultural equipment.