Long Manufacturing

The company underwent various changes in ownership throughout the decades that followed, while also pushing forward with manufacturing and importing various farm implements in addition to its imported tractors, such as combine harvesters and grain bins. But even after proving its brand alone was strong enough to survive for more than a half century amidst the bureaucratic shuffle, the Long name came to its official end in 2008 as its parent company was forced to file bankruptcy along with thousands of other companies hit equally as hard by that year’s recession.

With a relatively short history compared to the major agricultural marques today that have survived the test of time, those tractors from the Long Manufacturing Company that made their way out into American farm fields have become an intriguing addition to farm machinery collections today. The Long brand emerged from the devastation of the Great Depression and World War II, like a phoenix from the ash, and it eventually came crashing back to earth in another wave of economic turmoil. But like the mythical bird, these tractors are rising once again—this time, in popularity among collectors.

The Long tractors from the ’60 and ’70s, and especially those very first, limited tractors built by the company in its earliest years, have earned their place among the hearts of collectors, and finding one today could be the piece de la resistance that sets your collection apart from others, so keep your eyes peeled for examples at future Gone Farmin’ auctions.