The Quiet Genius Who Designed Deere’s Most Popular Tractors

In 1911, a quiet and thoughtful man left Massachusetts, bound for East Moline, Illinois, to take on the job as superintendent of Deere & Co.’s Marseilles Manufacturing Company. Management at Deere quickly took note of Theophilus (better known as Theo) Brown’s ability to conjure innovative solutions to engineering challenges.

Brown was one of those rare talents who could recognize a problem and then visualize its solution. Brown would note improvements to a design and then move with uncharacteristic speed (at least for an engineer) to create an advance. Using colored pencils to draw out his concepts and copious notes annotating instruction, Brown spearheaded the effort to move John Deere into the forefront of tractor design.

Brown first brushed up against horsepower while assembling Joseph Dain’s All-Wheel Drive tractor. By 1916, he advanced to head of the experimental department at Deere’s plow shop, where he tweaked the designs of the company’s extensive tillage line.

He Got a Taste for Horsepower

After working on the All-Wheel Drive, Brown hadan appetite for horsepower and began focusing his efforts on helping Deere develop a reliable tractor. Those efforts would be delayed a bit. Disappointed with the failure of the All-Wheel Drive to sell (mostly due to an economic depression at the time), instead of designing a replacement, Deere bought its way into the tractor market by acquiring the Waterloo Boy tractor in 1918.

The Waterloo Boy sold, but at a slow pace. Already, it was being outgunned by the more advanced designs offered by arch rivals, International Harvester, J.I. Case, and Ford. The latter company’s highly affordable Fordson was red-hot at this time, outselling all other machines 100-to-1.

The Introduction of the Model D

In response, Deere set out to create a tractor entirely of their own design, which resulted in the 1924 introduction of the Model D. Just prior to the birth of the Model D, Brown had climbed the engineering ladder, contributing to the D’s development.

As a result of the Model D, Deere caught up to current technology. The tractor was rugged and powerful enough to take on most tillage chores or power station equipment.

But the same year the D was introduced, International Harvester brought out the next generation of tractor technology: the revolutionary Farmall.

Demand for a Multipurpose Tractor

The demand for power and convenience ignited a swarm of manufacturers to build machines that could do more than ust pull a plow or drive a thresher. Their wallets were out and readily opening up to tractors that could run down rows to cultivate crops, power implements with a shaft (rather than a belt), and lift implements that didn’t use a trip mechanism or strong-arm levers.

Farmers wanted a multipurpose tractor. And the Farmall met many of the buyers’ demands. Deere’s response to the Farmall was its General Purpose (GP), which Brown had a major influence in designing. This, the first multipurpose tractor for Deere, provided farmers with four different sources of power delivery via a drawbar, a PTO, a belt pulley, and a power lift. This latter advance, which Brown helped create, was an industry first.

Model GP Fell Short

Launched in 1928, the GP was sold in various wheel configurations, Including a standard front, narrow front, a wide tread variant, and an orchard version (the first orchard model for Deere).But the tractor was plagued with shortcomings, not the least of which was its lack of horsepower (compared to competing tractors).

Brown designed the GP to operate with 3-row equipment such as planters or cultivators, which farmers shied away from. The GP was outclassed not only by the Farmall Regular and its successors, the models F-12 and F-20, but also by tractors from other firms like Allis-Chalmers, J.I. Case, Massey-Harris, and Oliver. Many of these machines provided more fit, finish, features, and power than the GP.

Deere’s president at the time, Charles Wiman (John Deere’s great-grandson), worked tirelessly to elevate the importance of tractors in the Deere product line before taking the reins of the firm in 1928. Despite the shortcomings of the GP, Wiman had faith in Brown’s abilities and kept him at the head of tractor development.

Brown did not let him down. He plowed forward to create an advanced tractor design that would not only catch up to the competition, but surpass them.

Challenged by the Great Depression

Brown’s task was made more challenging by the advent of the Great Depression. What kept the engineering department inspired was the continued success of the Model D that sold more than 100,000 units by 1930.

The consummate engineer, Brown worked tirelessly on new concepts. A Deere man through and through and a born leader, his engineering team set out to build off the foundation of the GP and create a new line of tractors.

Their efforts saw light on the factory floor in 1934. That year saw the introduction of the 16-drawbar-hp Model A. Its little brother, the 91/4 hp Model B, came out the next year.

Powering both tractors was Deere’s bulletproof 2-cylinder engine that was both rugged and long-lived, economical to operate, and easy to maintain. Despite tough economic times, both tractors sold well. Brown and his team immediately set about introducing numerous variations of the tractors, including narrow and wide wheel stances, narrow and wide front axles, and high crop and orchard models to spread the appeal of the tractor to a wider population of farmers.

The models A and B remained in production until 1953, superseded only by the Model D, whose production run from 1924 to 1953 marked it as Deere’s longest-lived model. All told, over 320,000 Model As and over 300,000 Model Bs sold, making them the most popular tractors in John Deere history. The tractors also established a foundation upon which an expanded fleet of Deere “lettered” models emerged, including the L (1937), G (1937), H (1939), M (1947), and R (1949).

Brown spent his professional life continuing to exert his engineering intellect on a variety of tractors and implement advances, retiring from Deere in 1952, after being awarded more than 150 patents.