Balers

1881 Joseph Dain left his furniture business to focus his time on developing hay equipment.
1882 Dain recieved his first patent and started manufacturing hay equipment. His products included an inclined stacker and a sweep rake.
1890 Dain introduced a hay gatherer that was popular with small farms that couldn't justify the purchase of a stacker.
1900 Dain Manufacturing moced to a 10 acre location in Ottumwa, Iowa. The location was near multiple railways, making shipping easier. Dain also sold his equipment to John Deere dealers during this time.
1905 Dain formed an agreement with John Deere giving them exclsive rights to sell Dain hay equipment.
1910 John Deere purchased Dain Manufacturing, which was producing mower, rakes, hay loaders, hay presses, and more.
1955 John Deere introduces the 14T baler, eliminating 50% of the labor required to bale.
1956 John Deere releases the No. 10 Rotary Chopper, allowing farmers to cut sugar-beet tops for silage, along with legume hay, dry hay, and straw.
1961 Ottumwa Works continued to develop and manufacture new equipment, producing 21 different models of hay equipment by this time. Present John Deere Ottumwa Works is still the main manufacturing plant of John Deere hay equipment.