Joseph “Joe” Dain Sr. spent decades developing agricultural machinery before taking on one of Deere & Company’s earliest tractor projects. His career began with hay-handling equipment, grew into a manufacturing business with operations in the United States and Canada, and eventually brought him into Deere’s executive and experimental work.
The tractor project became the final major chapter of that career. Dain led repeated rounds of design, testing, and revision before Deere moved toward a limited production run.
He did not live to see that decision carried through. Dain died in 1917 after contracting pneumonia during tractor field testing. Less than three weeks later, Deere’s board authorized the manufacture of 100 tractors of the Dain type.
A Quick Look at the Life of Joseph “Joe” Dain Sr.
Biography Summary
Joseph “Joe” Dain Sr. was an agricultural-equipment inventor, manufacturer, and Deere & Company executive. He founded Dain Manufacturing, developed hay-handling machinery, expanded the company into Iowa and Ontario, and sold the business to Deere in late 1910. He later became a Deere vice president responsible for patent and experimental work and led development of the company’s All-Wheel-Drive tractor project.
Profile
Full Name: Joseph “Joe” Dain Sr.
Born: May 3, 1859
Died: October 31, 1917
Birthplace: Near London, Ontario, Canada
Best Known For: Founding Dain Manufacturing and leading Deere’s early All-Wheel-Drive tractor development
Company / Organization: Dain Manufacturing Company; Deere & Company
Major Roles: Agricultural-equipment inventor and manufacturer; Deere vice president; head of patent and experimental work
From Furniture to Farm Equipment
Dain’s career in agricultural machinery took shape in Meadville, Missouri. In 1881, he left the furniture business and turned his attention to hay equipment.
The shift soon produced documented technical work. A U.S. patent issued in August 1882 identified Joseph Dain Jr. of Meadville as the inventor of improvements in hay stackers. His manufacturing activity from this period became the foundation of Dain Manufacturing Company.
Among the company’s early products were sweep rakes and hay stackers. Over time, the business expanded into other hay and harvesting equipment while Dain continued to appear in the patent record as an inventor.
Building Dain Manufacturing
By 1898, a hay-stacker patent listed Dain in Carrollton, Missouri, and assigned the invention to Dain Manufacturing Company in the same city.
The company moved to Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1900. There, Dain continued his design work. A 1908 patent identified him as an Ottumwa resident and inventor of further improvements in hay stackers.
Dain Manufacturing’s product line included hay stackers, loaders, rakes, mowers, presses, and related farm machinery. The combination of company growth and continuing patent activity kept Dain involved in both manufacturing and equipment design.
Expansion into Ontario
In 1909, Dain Manufacturing established a factory in Welland, Ontario, to serve demand for its hay-handling equipment in eastern Canada.
The operation became closely associated with the surrounding industrial area. That part of Welland came to be known as Dain City, and local historical collections preserve images of the factory from the period.
By late 1910, Dain Manufacturing had factories in both Ottumwa and Welland. The company’s expansion was followed by a major change in Dain’s own role.
From Company Owner to Deere Executive
Dain sold Dain Manufacturing to John Deere in late 1910. He stayed with the organization rather than leaving agricultural equipment behind.
Deere named him a vice president and placed him in charge of patent and experimental work. Dain remained in Ottumwa for several years before moving to Moline in 1913.
The move into Deere leadership shifted his work from running his own manufacturing company to overseeing experimental and patent activity inside a larger agricultural-machinery organization. That role soon led to a new assignment.
The Assignment to Build a Tractor
In May 1914, Deere assigned Dain to design a light tractor plow with an intended selling price of $700. In September, he received $3,000 to build a prototype.
The project advanced through repeated testing and redesign. Dain built three versions of the tractor in 1915. The first prototype weighed about 3,800 pounds, and testing exposed weaknesses that included light chains and broken front ratchets.
By December 1915, a third prototype used a positive gear-driven transmission instead of the earlier friction transmission. Deere continued evaluating durability, power, technology, and cost as the design changed.
Dain described the work as unusually experimental. In Deere’s later historical account, he noted that the tractor differed from others then on the market and that the team had little previous experience to guide its development.
Testing the All-Wheel-Drive Tractor
Field testing became central to the project. After demanding tests in Texas, Dain sent Deere a telegram on March 13, 1916, reporting that the tractor had traveled nearly 500 miles under heavy load without structural weakness. He recommended that the company “build ten machines at once.”
Deere’s board approved continued work. By the summer of 1916, five Dain tractors had been built in East Moline and one in Moline. Engine changes, cost analysis, and additional testing followed.
Dain’s role is also reflected in tractor-related patents from the development period. Those patents name him as inventor and assign the work to Deere & Company.
The design was still being refined, and Deere continued weighing technical performance and cost as the program moved forward.
Death Before the Production Decision
Field tests in 1917 helped move the Dain tractor closer to production. During testing in Huron, South Dakota, Dain contracted pneumonia. He died in Minneapolis on October 31, 1917.
He died before Deere formally approved the production run. On November 19, less than three weeks later, the board directed the manufacture of 100 tractors of the Dain type.
The first production All-Wheel-Drive tractor was completed in April 1918. Dain therefore did not oversee the production run that followed the years of prototype development and testing.
Deere Changes Direction
By then, Deere’s tractor strategy was changing. On March 14, 1918, the company acquired the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company and brought the Waterloo Boy tractor line into Deere.
The All-Wheel-Drive became a limited-production design rather than Deere’s long-term tractor platform. Even so, Dain’s project belonged to Deere’s pre-Waterloo tractor-development period and gave the company practical experience with tractor engineering and field testing.
His career therefore connected two distinct stages of farm mechanization: decades of work on hay-handling equipment followed by participation in Deere’s early move into tractors.
Legacy in Agricultural Equipment
Dain’s legacy rests on those two connected areas of work. Through Dain Manufacturing, he developed and manufactured hay equipment and expanded the business across Missouri, Iowa, and Ontario.
After selling the company, he remained active in patent and experimental work at Deere and became a central figure in the All-Wheel-Drive tractor project.
Records of that work remain in several historical collections. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History holds Dain Manufacturing material, Welland Public Library preserves imagery connected to the Canadian factory, and Deere’s archival history documents the tractor program that occupied the final years of Dain’s life.
Timeline
This timeline highlights important milestones in Joseph Dain’s career and Deere tractor-development work.
May 3, 1859
Joseph Dain was born near London, Ontario, Canada.
1881
Dain left the furniture business in Meadville, Missouri, to focus on hay equipment. Dain Manufacturing traces its beginnings to this period.
August 1, 1882
A U.S. patent was issued for Dain’s improvements in hay stackers.
1898
A hay-stacker patent listed Dain in Carrollton, Missouri, and assigned the invention to Dain Manufacturing Company.
1900
Dain Manufacturing moved to Ottumwa, Iowa.
1909
Dain Manufacturing established a factory in Welland, Ontario.
Late 1910
Dain sold Dain Manufacturing to John Deere and became a Deere executive.
1913
Dain moved to Moline.
May 1914
Deere assigned Dain to design a light tractor plow.
September 1914
Dain received $3,000 to build a prototype.
1915
Dain built three versions of the tractor while Deere continued testing and redesign work.
March 13, 1916
After Texas field testing, Dain reported strong results and recommended that Deere build ten machines.
Summer 1916
Five Dain tractors had been built in East Moline and one in Moline.
October 31, 1917
Dain died in Minneapolis from pneumonia contracted during tractor testing in Huron, South Dakota.
November 19, 1917
Deere’s board authorized manufacture of 100 tractors of the Dain type.
March 14, 1918
Deere acquired the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company.
April 1918
The first production All-Wheel-Drive tractor was completed after Dain’s death.
Sources
- John Deere: The Plowshare, Fall 2017 — The John Deere All-Wheel Drive; John Deere Hay Equipment History
- Google Patents / U.S. Patent Office records: 1882 Hay-Stacker Patent; 1898 Hay-Stacker Patent; 1908 Hay-Stacker Patent; Tractor-Wheel Patent; Tractor Patent
- Farm Collector: John Deere Sickle-Bar Mowers Collection
- Iowa PBS: Tractor Wars
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History: Dain Manufacturing Company Archival Collection