History in Forestry
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1837
Humble Beginnings
A man named John Deere started a company with a revolutionary plow fashioned from a broken sawmill blade. This humble start would go on to help America—and the rest of the world—grow for nearly two centuries.
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1883
Equipment Catalog
An 1883 catalog featured a complete sawmill, a familiar sight at many self-reliant family farms of the era.
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1918
Jonas Östberg
The blacksmith Jonas Östberg set up a shop in Alfta, Sweden, and it later grew into Ösa, i.e. Östbergs Smidesfabrik Alfta, M&G Östberg. This would later grow into Timberjack.
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1937
Model D Logging Winches
John Deere Model D tractors were pushed into service as logging winches. The wheels and seat were removed and wooden skids attached to the front, enabling the winch to be powered from the stationary machine.
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1947
Timberland is Founded
Timberland machines was founded in Woodstock, Ontario, and began producing products for the logging industry.
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1949
"MC" Crawler
John Deere released the machine that would take the logging world by storm: the “MC” Crawler. The “MC” earned high marks from loggers due to its prowess in tough terrain such as steep slopes and soft soil.
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1957
440 Crawler
John Deere introduced the 440 Crawler, a precursor to the changeover to all yellow machines the following year. The 440 also featured an easy-to-operate, inside-mounted hydraulic blade.
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1961
Timberjack 200 Series Skidder
Timberland Machines released the Timberjack 200 Series Skidder. Available with a 61-horsepower Ford gasoline engine, the first articulated skidder to bear the Timberjack name had a suggested list price of $8925.
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1965
John Deere 440 Skidder
The John Deere 440 Skidder changed the game when it was released in 1965. Before its arrival, wheeled skidders were little more than an engine in a frame. The 440 brought operator comfort into the equation to increase safety and productivity.
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1977
John Deere 743 Tree Harvester
John Deere unveils the 743 Tree Harvester, which combined the speed of rubber tires with the reach of a boom, allowing operators to harvest two trees a minute as it paved the way for today's modern harvesters.
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1983
Finland
Rauma-Repola Forest Machine Group was established in Finland under Rauma-Repola Oy Lokomo-industries. The Forest Machine Group was negotiating the purchase of Timberjack, Valmet and Kockums forest machine operations.
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1986
Joint Ventures
Rauma-Repola Forest Machine Group was negotiating with Caterpillar about cooperation and acquired 60 % of the French Cemet-Agrip and entered into a cooperation with Timberjack.
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1989
Timberjack Purchased
Rauma-Repola purchased 100 % of Timberjack.
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1990
FMG Timberjack
The group was renamed FMG Timberjack.
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1991
Mergers
Rauma-Repola merged with a Finnish company United Paper Mills and FMG Timberjack was attached to Rauma-group.
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1994
Timberjack
FMG Timberjack was renamed Timberjack-group.
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1997
User-Centric Design Approach
Customer and dealer feedback was brought into the design process through the formation of dealer and customer advocacy groups, known as DAGs and CAGs. This user-centric approach to design was another John Deere first.
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1998
Hitachi Partnership
John Deere partnered with Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. to manufacture purpose-built, excavator-based logging machines. Deere-Hitachi Specialty Products (DHSP) is located in Langley, British Columbia.
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2000
Timberjack & Waratah Acquired
John Deere purchased both Timberjack and Waratah. In addition to bringing exciting new technology and R&D assets to the brand, this purchase solidified John Deere as the clear worldwide leader in forestry.
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2005
John Deere Forestry Oy
Timberjack Oy was renamed John Deere Forestry Oy and the new machinery was trademarked John Deere.
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2015
L-Series Released
John Deere celebrates 50 years of skidders with the release of the new game-changing L-Series machines.