The New Holland M series is one of the ranges that came to New Holland from Fiatagri, the tractor division Fiat merged into the business in 1993. The film below shows an M 135 ploughing. The sources used for this page describe the two companies and their merger, not the individual models.
New Holland M series at a glance
| Maker | New Holland, from the Fiatagri range |
|---|---|
| Origin | FIAT Trattori, tractor makers since the Fiat 702 of 1918 |
| Fiat tractor output | over a million tractors by the end of the 1970s |
| Merger | Fiat bought 80 per cent of Ford New Holland in 1991 |
| Ranges combined | Fiatagri and Ford tractors sold side by side from 1993 |
| Colours then | Fiat terracotta red and Ford blue together |
| Single brand | launched in Orlando, 1996 |
| All tractors blue | from 2000 |
| Technical data | not given in the sources used here |
| Example filmed | an M 135 ploughing with a Kuhn plough |
The sources describe the companies and the merger, not the M series; the models’ technical data is left out because it is not in them.
History of the New Holland M series
Fiatagri became New Holland
FIAT began building tractors in 1918 with the Model 702, the first Italian tractor made on an industrial scale, and by the end of the 1970s its tractor division had produced more than a million machines. In the 1980s it added Braud of France, whose grape harvesters became a New Holland speciality in their own right. When Fiat bought 80 per cent of Ford New Holland in 1991, the two tractor businesses were combined, and from 1993 the tractors that had been Fiatagri machines were sold under the New Holland organisation.
Why they were still red
The merger was handled carefully. For several years the combined range was offered in Fiat terracotta red and in Ford blue at the same time, so that customers of each brand could buy the machine they knew from the dealer they trusted. The single New Holland brand was launched worldwide at a convention in Orlando, Florida, in 1996, and only in 2000 was the decision taken to paint everything New Holland blue. M-series tractors belong to that overlap: Fiatagri engineering under a New Holland name.
The series in the field
The M series covered the mid-to-large farm tractors of the range, the class bought for ploughing, heavy cultivation and transport. The film below shows an M 135 at work with a Kuhn plough, and photographs of the series often show the Fiatagri badge alongside the New Holland one, a reminder of where the machine came from. The sources used here do not give the series’ engines, powers or production years, and this page does not supply figures it cannot support.
Design and features
- Fiatagri origin: mechanics from the tractor division Fiat had built since 1918.
- Two-colour years: sold in red and blue before 2000.
- Mid-to-large class: tractors for ploughing, cultivation and haulage.
- Working examples: M 135 tractors are still in use on European farms.
New Holland M series versions
- New Holland M 135: the model shown in the film.
- Smaller M models: the rest of the series.
- Ford-blue equivalents: the tractors of the same class sold under the Ford New Holland name.
The Ford side of the same merger is on the New Holland 7840 page, and the later high-power tractors on the New Holland T series page. More machines are in the New Holland section.
Video: Pflügen 2012 mit New Holland M 135 und Kuhn Master 120
Video by Marcel Fornoff on YouTube.
Sources
- New Holland Agriculture, English Wikipedia: Fiat tractor history, Braud, 1991 purchase, 1996 launch
- New Holland, Dutch Wikipedia: Fiat and Ford colours, 2000 blue
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