Tuesday, March 29th was an historic day for Hesston by Massey Ferguson.  They rolled the 100,000 windrower off the production line, an accomplishment more than 60 years in the making.  The achievement was celebrated by the Hesston manufacturing plant with company executives, employees, and special guests like Ray Robinson, the buyer of that windrower.

“Manufacturing the 100,000th windrower is a significant achievement for AGCO,” said Robert Crain, AGCO senior vice president and general manager, North America & South America. “The first commercially available windrower was manufactured right here in Hesston, Kansas more than 60 years ago and they are still made here today. The dedication of all of our employees — past and present —have made the Hesston brand the leader in the industry.”

The 100,000th windrower is dramatically different from the first model of 1955, which launched the Hesston brand. Today’s WR9800 Series self-propelled windrowers are fuel-efficient and offer superior operator convenience. WR9800 Series windrowers are powered by reliable AGCO Power™ engines, led by the AP66-4F, a 6.6-liter engine in the WR9870. This model is ideal for Hesston’s disc header, and offers 225hp and the muscle to operate in heavy crop conditions such as winter forage, wet silage hay and hilly or rough terrain. The WR9860 is designed to perform toe-to-toe with any six-cylinder windrower with its AP49-4F 4.9L, four-cylinder QuadBoost™ engine, that boasts 195hp and is an increase over the previous model. Both machines provide high field speed of 17.5 mph, plus a maximum road speed of 24.5 mph for quicker moves between fields, when equipped with RearSteer. Our final model is the WR9840, rated at 137hp, this machine is a perfect fit for draper and sickle head applications.

Hesston has been famous for their hay-making equipment since 1947.  They are the creators of the first self-propelled windrower.