In 1945 Elmira brothers Gerald and Russell McKee went into the farm machinery business. By 1951 they had moved beyond repairs to manufacturing equipment that revolutionized the harvesting process for many farmers. The McKee One Man Harvester allowed a farmer to harvest and store his crop of hay single-handedly using only one tractor rather than more labour-intensive baling equipment. The harvester arrived at a particularly good time as many young men were leaving farms for better paying jobs in the city.
