It was the result of a 1902 merger between the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms: Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner (manufacturers of Champion brand). International Harvester changed their corporate name to Navistar International Corporation in 1986.
The first major product from International Harvester was the Titan 10-20 and 15-30 tractor. Introduced in 1915, the tractors were primarily used as traction engines to pull large plows and for belt work on threshing machines. In 1924, International Harvester introduced the Farmall tractor, a smaller general-purpose tractor, to fend off competition from the Ford Motor Company’s Fordson tractors. The Farmall was the first tractor in the United States to incorporate a tricycle-like design (or row-crop front axle), which could be used on tall crops such as cotton and corn.
In addition to its line of farm equipment, International Harvester produced plows, construction equipment, household appliances, M1 Garand military rifles, jet engines, trucks and school bus chassis.
IH is often remembered as a maker of relatively successful and innovative ?light? line of vehicles, competing directly against the Big 3. The most common were pickup trucks. International Harvester made light trucks from 1907 to 1975. The final Light Line truck was made on May 5, 1975. The Travelall was a 3-row seating wagon similar to the Chevrolet Suburban.
Upscale 1970s versions sported fake wood trim. The Scout was patterned after the Jeep. These SUVs were the Traveler, Terra, and Scout II. They were soon imitated by the similar Ford Bronco before both were obsoleted by the Chevrolet Blazer which was simply a short pickup with a removable cabin roof. IH would abandon sales of passenger vehicles in 1980 to concentrate on commercial trucks and school buses. Today the pickups and Scouts are minor cult orphaned vehicles. All were available as rugged four wheel drive off-road vehicles. Models and toys of IH vehicles are very difficult to find, though Micro Machines made a 70s Travelall with a camping trailer. They had a major presence in East Idaho.
