Within the solid craftsmanship of each Brandt implement lives an engineering and farming tradition that began on the Brandt family’s farm at the turn of the 20th century. Read on to learn about Brandt PMC’s unique heritage from the perspective of John Henry Brandt, the son of the man who founded Brandt Machine Works in 1913.

In the late 1700s, my ancestors emigrated from Amsterdam and settled on a farm in Pennsylvania. My grandfather and namesake John Henry Brandt was a farmer and brilliant self-taught engineer. He traveled around the country building and selling customized Thrasher machines to other farmers, all while raising his family on the farm.

My father, Edward Ellsworth"E.E." Brandt grew up working side-by-side with his father, mastering the blacksmith trade and deepening his appreciation for farming. He moved to Carlisle, Arkansas in the early 1900s to be near his Aunt. While living there, he befriended the rice farmers in the community, listened to their needs, and built tools and heavy equipment that made their field preparation and harvesting work easier. After many innovations and satisfied customers, he opened Brandt Machine Works in 1913.

In 1926, my father designed and crafted the first levee pusher on wheels that allowed farmers to prepare their land with unmatched levels of efficiency. This was a boon to farmers from around the state, and word spread fast that Brandt Machine Works was the only place that made the machines. My father hired a team of blacksmiths and welders to satisfy the demand. The company grew almost overnight. As a small child I worked closely with my father and these men, soaking in their values of quality, precision and taking pride in a job well done.

I began working in the family business in 1936 at the age of 15 to pursue my passion for equipment engineering. In those days we worked out of a small shop, designing and hand-crafting the implements that we manufactured.

Brandt Machine Works became a respected leader in the farm equipment industry when we manufactured our first Grain Cart in 1947. The rice farmer across the road was having problems with the rice shattering in the field before it got to the mill. After listening to the farmer and thinking about his problem, we designed and manufactured an implement that hauled rice from the combine in the field to the truck, then to the mill, where it was unloaded for processing. We again became an industry leader with the design of our first Round Hopper Grain Cart in the 1950s.

Eventually, I rose to the position of company owner. My son Edward came into the family business in 1963 after earning a college degree in Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. He designed the Brandt Land Leveler – one of our best-selling products to this day – within his first year. He now serves the company as an Independent Consultant for improving the designs of the Brandt Implements.

Today, Brandt is owned by Pitonyak Machinery Corporation (PMC). The company’s name has changed, but the Brandt name remains on all the implements manufactured by PMC. True to the innovative spirit and workmanship inspired by the generations of Brandts who came before us, PMC has retained the craftsmanship and quality that farmers have been accustomed to for the past 95 years. PMC continues my family’s legacy by constructing durable, quality products for the farmers whose operations and lives are still reliant upon our commitment to the agricultural industry.

— John Henry Brandt, July, 2008