Riding on a carrier to move it forward, the basic chassis is bolted together at the start of the swather assembly line.
Photo: Scott Garvey
Employees ready the engine and transmission for installation.
Photo: Scott Garvey
With everything operational, a swather waits to go into a “quality gate,” where all systems are tested before further assembly.
Photo: Scott Garvey
Inside a sealed chamber, swathers are run through a test cycle.
Photo: Scott Garvey
After testing, all panels are in place and a worker applies decals.
Photo: Scott Garvey
AGCO’s recent 100,000th milestone for swather builds coincides with the 70th anniversary of operations at its Hesston manufacturing plant. In all, the Hesston factory turns out a combined total of about 42 machines of all types each day. And many of the components for those machines are fabricated right from flat steel on site, a process that is common in agricultural assembly plants but differs a lot from automotive plants that often only handle component assembly.
