Some history of the Ransome Company from:
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Ransomes of Ipswich was founded in 1789 by Robert Ransome. He had already been in business as an ironfounder in Norwich before moving to Ipswich, where he expected to be able to expand his markets.
One of Ransome's principal products was ploughshares. In 1785 Ransome patented the "chilling process that enabled sheares to sharpen themselves as they worked through the soil" . This was followed in 1808 by a patent for interchangeable plough parts. Upon these foundations Ransomes were to become one of the leading manufacturers of ploughs in the country. Among the notable developments were the introduction of the YL plough in 1843, the Newcastle plough (RN series) from 1864, the self-lift tractor ploughs (RSLD, RSLM) from 1926 and the Ford-Ransome series in 1946.
In common with nearly all ironfounders in the early nineteenth century, Ransome undertook a wide range of general work. This included building some iron bridges in Suffolk in the years around 1820, and production of chairs, fastenings and other railway equipment from 1840's until 1869, when this part of the business was separated as Ransome and Rapier.
The production of agricultural equipment expanded during the 1830's, the range of products now including harrows, cultivators, barn machinery and threshing machines. Ransomes also became pioneers in the development of the agricultural steam engine. The firm exhibited a portable steam engine at the Royal Agricultural Society's show in 1841 and the following year brought a prototype self moving engine. From these beginnings arose the firm's celebrity as one of the leading manufacturers of threshing machines and steam engines - portables, stationary engines and traction engines.
The fourth major product of the company was the lawn mower. From 1839 Ransomes took up production of the mowing machine patented by Edwin Budding of Stroud and lawn mower production was to become one of the most important activites of the firm from the late nineteenth century onwards. The firm introduced motor mowers in 1902.
Ransomes was an active exporter. In many years in the late nineteenth century more than four-fifths of its sales of steam engines and threshing machines were overseas. Prominent destinations were Russia, Australia and South America
In the twentieth century trading conditions were difficult for agricultural engineers. The home market between the wars was poor, several export markets, such as Russia, had been lost, and there was increasing competition from North American manufacturers. The lawn mower side of the business assumed greater importance in the 1920's and 1930's , and the company also took on other non-agricultural production, including electric trucks and buses.A notable introduction during this period was the MG (Market Garden) small crawler tractor, powered by a lawn mower engine. Introduced in 1936, these tractors remained in production until 1965.
In the second World War Ransomes contributed to the manufacture of armaments and aircraft as well as farm implements for the ploughing-up campaign. After the war the company faced with difficult adjustment to the new conditions of mechanised agriculture. Production of threshing machines ceased in 1954, but Ransome combine harvesters were introduced. The firm's agricultural implement product range concentrated on ploughs, harvesting machines (including root harvesters) and seed home international remained fierce, and by the early 1970's Ransomes decided to withdraw from the combine harvesters market. Then in 1989 the whole of the agricultural implement business was sold to Electrolux, to be merged with their subsidary Overum.
This left Ransomes as a big manufacturer of lawn mowers, their products including Westwood and Mountfield mowers. In 1997 the company received a take over offer from Textron Inc of the United States and Ransomes' independent existence ended early in 1998.