Combines question on ownership

The only thing I know is that Deere and Cat had an agreement that Deere would sell Cat crawlers and Cat would sell John Deere tractors because Cat didn't want to manufacture wheel tractors (which their dealerships were demanding). Deere did not want to design and manufacture crawlers that some of their dealerships wanted. These agreement was done in the 30's. The farthest it went was that Cat designed a Trailer Patrol for the John Deere DI and they were supposed to sell this unit together. They only made about 100 DI's. Cat also gave or sold (depending on who you here it from) JD the combine model 36. JD already had a line of combines but not a hillside combine which why they accepted the 36. In my area, there were alot of Cat and JD dealerships in the same building. My 2 cents worth.

They are not the same company. Go back further and read my post on the Deere buyout of the Caterpillar [Holt] combines. That was a long time ago.

Cat will probably own deere someday,,due to deere wanting to copy its rubber track tractor,,,or should i say a very close look-a-like. What else will deere copyIJIJ

I don't think that deere will copy anything of cats, considering they no longer have any ag equipment to copy. As far as cat owning deere some day, I think cat just sold off part of their line. I don't think they will be buying deere any time soon.

OK, I have seemed to inflame many lately, just adding food for thought. Starks has been very quiet on this subject lately, waiting to see the real decision maybe. Deere and Cat are definitely not owned by the same company! Both have been in the past well managed companies. Many changes in upper management have taken place at both in the last couple of years. Deere is reeling from huge losses and trying to make some adjustments for the actions they have exhibited in the last few years. Warranty (quality) and durability are issues which have been talked about a lot here on these pages. One would hope that those issues are corrected soon considering the number of machines out there. CAT may have made a decision that is much different than appears on the surface. Even though the future of CAT_Claas is in question, they may still be making a bigger play in Ag than we realize. After talking to a few who may have more insight than we do, depending on how the "purchase" of the challenger line is financed (ie; stock trade) Cat may have more of a hold than they had before. A potential outlet for engines, drives, and transmissions along with better market penetration might be ahead for them. Also, if there is stock that is changing hands, Ratliff may be making a name by potentially adding AGCO to the CAT unbrella. Just more food for thought.