Gleaner Manufacturing Company was the name of a company which made the first self-propelled combine harvesters. They are best known for their production while part of Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company. Gleaners were silver in color, unlike the Allis Chalmers field tractors, which were unique for their bright orange paint. Gleaners were unique for being the first to use galvanised sheet metal. Gleaning itself is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest.
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History
Gleaner combines date back to 1923, when the Baldwin Brothers of Kansas, inspired by Jean Francois Millet's famous 1857 painting, The Gleaners decided to use the term as the name for their radically redesigned self-propelled harvesting machine. The Baldwin Brother's Gleaner incorporated reaping, binding and threshing all into one machine. Gleaner Baldwin Combines of Independence, MO fell into bankruptcy in the 1930s as sales plummeted. William James Brace became the receiver and with his son-in-law, George Reuland and others brought the company back. During WWII, they also produced war related machinery parts. They were among the pioneers in the "self-propelled" machines, that is combines which had integrated propulsion and were not pulled by tractors. These machines were often considered the "Cadillac" of the industry. Allis-Chalmers purchased Gleaner in 1955 and continued to build the Gleaner machines in Independence, MO. When Allis-Chalmers folded, it became part of Deutz-Allis and in 1991, AGCO (Allis Gleaner Company)was created. The Independence plant was moved to Hesston, KS in 2000, near its roots where the Baldwin brothers started.
In 1979, Gleaner released another major innovation, the rotary combine. The N6 was the first such combine produced by Gleaner, followed by the N5 and the N7, the largest combine of its time, with grain heads as big as 30 feet.
Firsts
Some of the firsts introduced by the Gleaner are: an auger that replaced canvas drapers, a rasp bar threshing cylinder instead of a spike-tooth arrangement, and a down-front cylinder that put threshing closer to the crop. It also introduced the use of galvanised sheet metal and the name “GLEANER” – two trademarks that have remained unchanged for over three-quarters of a century.
Allis Chalmers
In 1955, Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company acquired Gleaner. This was what launched Gleaner into success and the production of numerous new models, as well as a wealth of new technology. Allis Chalmers is the name under which Gleaners are most well known. These combines superseded the All-Crop Harvesters for Allis-Chalmers.
In 1985, Allis Chalmers became Deutz-Allis, and Gleaners were produced under that name.
AGCO Allis
In 1991, Deutz Allis became AGCO Allis, and Gleaners were consequently sold under AGCO, which actually stands for Allis Gleaner Company.
In 2000, AGCO moved the Gleaner manufacturing facility to its AGCO facility in order to have a more modern facility and to centralize many engineering and production functions at one location. This facility is located in Kansas, just a few miles away from where Gleaner originated.
Today
Even though Allis Chalmers aren't here today, Gleaners are still in production today under AGCO, which actually stands for Allis Gleaner Company.
See also
References
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