Peter Pakosh

Who was Peter Pakosh?

Peter Pakosh was co-founder of the Versatile tractor company, and is credited with many inventions and equipment innovations including the modern-day grain auger used by combine harvesters. He is considered an innovator in the field of agricultural machinery on a level with John Deere and Cyrus McCormick.

Versatile was the first company to mass-produce articulated four-wheel drive tractors, starting in 1966 with the D100 and G100 four-wheel drives. Those ground-breaking tractors were primitive by modern standards, with a 6-cylinder diesel or 8-cylinder gas engine producing 100 horsepower. 1966 models sold for less than CA$10,000.

Four-wheel drive demand increased significantly, with Versatile becoming one of the leaders in four-wheel drive development and production. By the late 1970s the Versatile lineup included tractors ranging from 220 to 330 horsepower. With the 1980s came an expanded line of four-wheel drive tractors that stretched to 470 horsepower in the Versatile 1150.

In 1993, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, a trade association for manufacturers of agricultural and construction equipment, selected Pakosh as one of "100 Significant Contributors and Contributions to the Mechanization of Agriculture and Construction".