BF Avery was an American manufacturer of

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...

known for its line of

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

s. The company began in 1825 with the manufacturing of

plows A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

before shifting to tractors in the late 1930s. The company was purchased by

Minneapolis-Moline Motec Industries was a large tractor and farm and industrial machinery producer based in Hopkins, Minnesota known for its Minneapolis-Moline tractor line. It was the product of a merger of three companies in 1929: Minneapolis Steel & Machinery (M ...

in 1951, and the line of tractors was discontinued in 1955.

History

Benjamin Franklin Avery began manufacturing plows in

Clarksville, Virginia Clarksville is a town in Mecklenburg county in the U.S. state of Virginia, near the southern border of the commonwealth. The population was 1,139 at the 2010 census. Since the town has numerous buildings of the 18th-, 19th-, and early 20th-centu ...

, in 1825. The business moved to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

in 1847. In 1863, Avery re-formed the company with his children, renaming it BF Avery and Sons. During this time, the company released cast iron and steel plows, as well as released a semi-monthly magazine, called ''Home and Farm''. In 1865, following Avery's death, the business was passed to his three sons. Production shifted to tractors in the 1930s. In 1951, the BF Avery company was purchased by Minneapolis-Moline tractor company. In 1955, Minneapolis-Moline shut down the Louisville plant, discontinuing the Avery line of tractors.

Products

In 1930, Avery designed a tractor and contracted with

Cletrac The Oliver Farm Equipment Company was an American farm equipment manufacturer from the 20th century. It was formed as a result of a 1929 merger of four companies: the American Seeding Machine Company of Richmond, Indiana; Oliver Chilled Plow Wo ...

to produce it. In February 1942, Avery moved production of the tractor to its own facilities. The tractor was relaunched as the BF Avery Model A in 1943, being sold simultaneously as the Cletrac GG and the

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

Twin-Row. It featured a singular front wheel. Avery later released the smaller Model V in 1946, and the larger Model R in 1950. Under Minneapolis-Moline, the Model A was discontinued and the Model R was renamed to the BF. The Model V was the only tractor to be released under both companies' names.

References

{{reflist, 2 Tractor manufacturers of the United States Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky Manufacturing companies established in 1825 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1955 1825 establishments in Virginia 1955 disestablishments in Kentucky