Peter Pakosh, (third from right) and Roy Robinson (4th from right) , unveil a new Versatile D118 at a plant expansion ceremony in 1967.

See the Versatile story at
http://www.versatile-tractors.com

Here is a brief history of the Versatile Tractor plant in Winnipeg:

• 1945 Peter Pakosh builds his first grain auger in the basement of his Toronto home.
• 1953 Peter Pakosh and Roy Robinson move from Toronto to open a plant in Winnipeg to be closer to the farm market. First products were augers, field sprayers and self-propelled swathers under the brand name "Versatile".
• 1960 First pull-type swather added to the product line.
• 1964 Opened present plant at 1260 Clarence Avenue.
• 1966 The first 4WD Versatile tractor is manufactured in the Winnipeg plant.
• 1968 Introduced a self-propelled swather with hydrostatic drive
• 1970 Introduced a self propelled combine with full hydrostatic drive.
• 1976 Versatile squired by Cornat Industries Ltd. of Vancouver.
• 1981 Multi-million dollar plant expansion allows production of nine models of four wheel drive tractors ranging from 71 HP to 470 HP. Australian market is opened.
• 1982 Introduced the four wheel drive Bi-directional (tm) , then the D6 tractor, followed by the Trans-axial 2000 pull-type combine.
• 1986 the Sperry New Holland Company in Pennsylvania and the Versatile Manufacturing Company of Winnipeg, Manitoba are acquired by the Ford Tractor Division. The Ford Tractor Division is subsequently renamed Ford - New Holland.
• In 1991 Fiat acquires 80% of Ford New Holland Inc., merges it with FiatGeotech and names the new company New Holland Geotech.
• In 1993 Fiat Agri acquires the remaining shares from Ford and once again changes the name to simply New Holland. The terms of the acquisition require that the Ford name be eliminated from the tractors by January 1, 2000.
• In 1993 the Equipment Manufacturers Institute name Pakosh as one of the 100 most significant contributors to the mechanization of agriculture in the last 100 years.
• In 1999 Case and New Holland announce their intention to merge. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Justice required that Case New Holland divest themselves of the Winnipeg tractor plant.
• 1999 (Fall) Winnipeg industrialist John Buhler declares an intention to make an offer.
• 2000 (April) John Buhler, President and Managing Director of Buhler Industries Inc. and the company Chief Operating Officer, Craig Engel meet officials of CNH Global (the new name of the merged companies) in New York city. They expected to complete negotiations, but learn that the United States DOJ regarded them as an ineligible purchaser.
• 2000 (May and June) The focus shifts from New York to Washington as the Buhler effort centers on the United States Department of Justice. Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy (in whose riding the plant is located) is known to be taking an active interest in the proceedings.
• 2000 (July) Buhler Versatile Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Buhler Industries Inc., receives final approval from the US Department of Justice and the Canadian Government to conclude the purchase of the plant and assume manufacturing and distribution rights to the two lines of tractors. The transaction is concluded between Buhler Versatile Inc. and CNH Global.
• 2000 (July 31) Buhler Versatile Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Buhler Industries Inc., assumes ownership of the plant including agreements for production of tractors to be sold through the Buhler distribution system, as well as by CNH Global.
• 2001 (January) Versatile is back! Versatile four wheel drive tractors of 240 HP to 425 HP and Genesis two wheel drive tractors of 145 to 210 HP are scheduled for production in traditional red and yellow paint.