Farmall Germany
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International Harvester's Farmall brand of tractors was built in Germany between 1937 and 1959. For most of this time, the Farmall brand was not prominently used, even though the equipment was based on and styled similarly to the Farmall line. The D-217 Farmall was the product that most prominently displayed the brand. As IH Germany's product line increasingly diverged from that of the parent company, other brands were adopted, and most products were marketed as International.
International had been selling tractors in Germany under the Deering and McCormick brands since the 1880s, consolidating under the International Harvester brand in 1902. International Harvester Company GmbH was established in 1908, at Neuss am Rhein to produce agricultural equipment in Germany. Production was disrupted during World War I, and was stopped in 1924 for three months when the Ruhr Valley was occupied by French forces. Production was shifted to tractors in 1936 in response to Nazi tariffs on imported machinery. The first domestic tractors were built starting in 1937, when F-12-Gs and their industrial counterparts, I-12-Gs were produced. The F-12-G was essentially the same as an American Farmall F-12. Production moved to FG rubber-tired tractors and FS steel-wheeled tractors in 1940.[1]
As a result of fuel shortages during World War II and a ban on civilian use of gasoline, production moved to vehicles fueled by wood gas, models HG and HS. Production amounted to only 144 units, and about 70% of the Neuss plant was destroyed in Allied airstrikes.[1]
Emergency production resumed in 1945 and the plant was restored, with new FS and FG tractors produced from August 1946. Although the FG and FS were updated with new styling, their gasoline engines were unpopular in Germany, and production shifted to diesel-engined models in 1950, the DF-25.[1]
