Made In America!

1989 White American 60

- Jim Allen

By the end of the 1980s, White Farm Equipment was in trouble. The company had begun in 1960, when White Motor Company bought Oliver Farm Equipment. In ’62, they acquired Cockshutt and in ’63 Minneapolis- Moline. By the end of the ‘60s, the brands were operating under the White Farm Equipment banner and they were a major player in the world agricultural manufacturing scene. Just a few years later, the brands and models were merged and rebranded as White tractors. White had a decent thing going but a recession and some financial missteps put them on shaky ground in the early ‘80s, along with most of the rest of the ag industry. What else can you do in that situation but plug ahead, and that’s what they did.

Up to 1989, White had a deal with the respected Japanese tractor manufacturer, Iseki, to build their smaller units in the 30 hp to about 75 hp range. The Isekis were good tractors and nobody said different, but White wanted to put more of their people to work as well as be able to reintroduce an American made smaller tractor. The eventual result of that push were the Model 60 and Model 80 tractors, dubbed the White American Series.