Although we think of Ford and Massey Ferguson as being the big two brands in the 1950s and 1960s, David Brown was not far behind and even topped the sales charts on occasion, such was the popularity of the brand.

Yet despite this achievement and the well respected design from a company that was, first and foremost, an engineering company that happened to make tractors as well as gears, it was Ford and MF that survived the general cull that cut through the tractor brands from the seventies onwards.

David Brown was an unfortunate victim of the bursting of the tractor making bubble, yet it was unlikely to have ever survived on its own.

In fact, none of them did – all of today’s big tractor companies are amalgamations or divisions of larger corporations, even John Deere absorbed Lanz to establish itself in Europe.

Overseas markets

The story behind DB’s fall from the spotlight started back in the mid-1960s, when it was decided that the company should pursue its export markets with greater vigour – America being a major target.

This would not appear unreasonable at the time – the company had been producing tractors for Oliver, as well as selling under its own name out there, it had even produced two petrol models for a country where gasoline flowed like water at the time.

Oliver 500 tractor — The Oliver 500 was made by David Brown and exported to America
Source: Tractordata

France was another important market, while in Germany the company had cooperated with a much smaller manufacturer, Wahl of Baden Wurttemberg, to develop a hybrid tractor consisting of a DB front end and a Wahl/ZF transmission and rear axle.

Badged the David Brown 750 Farmatic, 279s were produced in Germany before production ceased and Wahl became a major distributor for DB, importing tractors modified for the German market which carried much more legislation than anywhere else.

Rolls Royce pulls the plug

To facilitate an export drive, a new production facility would need to be built, and so a modern plant was built at the eastern end of the existing site, it was state of the art and efficient, and consequently expensive.

The banks were lenient and Lloyds granted a generous overdraft facility of £30 million, yet Lloyds was also lending heavily to Rolls Royce, which was developing the now hugely successful RB211 engine.

The David brown 880 Selectamatic was typical of the product line as the funding crisis approached

Unfortunately, the jet project was the subject of poor management and cost overruns causing Rolls Royce to go into receivership in 1971, leaving Lloyds out of pocket, so the bank decided to call in its other loans to engineering companies.

This was not unexpected, and DB was already well aware of its vulnerability with such a massive loan that might need to be paid off at short notice.

For this reason, it had already been talking to the government about taking Nuffield off its hands, but an idea that suffered a lack of political will.

David Brown goes up for sale

The position then in the early 1970s was not a comfortable one, as it had become obvious that the company had over extended itself and a white knight was required if the works were to be saved.

At this point, it is worth reminding ourselves that David Brown was a significant engineering business with 80% of its tractor production being exported to over 100 countries and the factory was a major employer in the Huddersfield area.

Cabs were always problematic for David Brown and although the Sta-Dri cab offered protection from the elements it was noisy enough to require ear defenders

Despite all this the tractor division was quietly put up for sale as a going concern and an article in the New York Times of July 8, 1972 announced the completion of the deal withTenneco Inc, of Houston, paying more than $33 million for the business and its assets.

Not that it was relayed to the British workforce as that – back in Yorkshire, it was presented as a merger and this has led to a lack of clarity and confusion ever since as to exactly what had happened.

Tenneco’s plans

However, it soon became apparent who was now the boss and within a year it was announced that David Brown was to be merged with another asset of Tenneco’s, J.I. Case, of which it had already purchased 53%.

DB 996 — With the transfer of ownership to Tenneco the Case name gradually started to appear on the bonnet, although obscured by the loader bracket in this 1977 DB996

Tenneco, which had its roots in the oil and gas business, was now building up a tractor production division and this being an American company it would be the red and black livery of Case that was to eventually prevail over the whole range of machines it produced, although the black and white of DB did not immediately disappear.

In 1984, there was some further consolidation within the industry as Tenneco bought a number of assets of International Harvester, including its factory at Doncaster, just over an hour’s drive from Meltham Mills.

David Brown 1210 — Tractor power was increasing in the 70’s and the 67hp 1210 soon gave way to the 71hp 1212

This was during the 1980s, as tractors were increasing in size and decreasing in unit sales, farmers were now buying to replace older tractors rather than horses, there was a genuine over capacity in the industry, a fact which not everyone appreciated or wanted to accept.

It was the David Brown name that was fading from the bonnets as the Case decals took their place, and even though the name might have remained on the block castings these engines were aging and would not be around forever.

The final days of David Brown

Once the Doncaster factory had been thrown into the mix, the original manufacturing complex at Huddersfield itself was under threat and despite many ardent attempts by the staff of the old company, and politicians at local and senior level, the numbers employed dwindled away until the last tractor was produced on March 11, 1988.

The David Brown 1390 was built up until 1984 and is typical of the last models built at the Meltham Mills factory.

David Brown is now a name that is fondly recalled at vintage rallies and among the more mature members of the farming community as a producing a solid and well-engineered workhorse.

Like all marques, there were hiccups along the way and for a period the cabs were less than desirable, but overall they played a huge role in advancing mechanisation in farming, yet fate decreed that the brand would pass into history, gone but not forgotten

Overseas markets

Rolls Royce pulls the plug

David Brown goes up for sale

Tenneco’s plans

The final days of David Brown

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