Hesston by Massey Ferguson, the hay equipment brand of AGCO Corporation, will complete the production of its 100,000th windrower in March in Hesston, Kan.

The landmark achievement will be celebrated in Hesston on March 29.

The 70-year-old Hesston by Massey Ferguson brand is a leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery, well known for its high quality haymaking equipment since 1947. 

When Hesston’s founder, Lyle Yost, introduced the first self-propelled windrower back in 1955, he not only shared this unique invention but he would ultimately be a leader in the revolution of the hay business, according to an AGCO press release.

Over the course of the last 60 years, AGCO’s skilled engineers have innovated and improved on this harvesting machine, including the recent addition of rear-wheel steering known as RearSteer. This is an effort to listen and respond to the needs of farmers not just here in North America, but across the world.

The 100,000th windrower is a vast improvement from the first model of 1955. Today’s WR9800 Series of self-propelled windrowers are fuel efficient and offer superior operator convenience.

The WR9800 Series 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 225 horsepower and the muscle to operate in heavy crop conditions including 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 — a 4.9L four-cylinder QuadBoost engine - which boasts 195 HP and is an increase over the previous model.

This additional power provides a higher field speed of 17.5 mph, plus a maximum road speed of 24.5 mph for quicker moves between fields, when equipped with RearSteer.

Whether the addition of hydrostatic power in 1967 (renamed Hydro-Static 600), or the addition of RearSteer in 2016, the Hesston Windrower continues to be a leader.

In 1956, the first commercially-available Hesston Windrower was a self-propelled windrower, the Model 100. It provided much greater versatility when harvesting hay and grain crops and brought a new level of maneuverability.

AGCO says today’s Hesston WR9800 Series windrowers allow hay and grain producers to develop quality end-product faster and more efficiently with an enhanced level of precision.