Many of Britain's long established farm machinery manufacturers were started by a farmer or a blacksmith, and it was a farmer who started the McConnel company in 1935.Freddie McConnel's talent for developing a varied range of machinery ideas began with a rotary engine in 1928; four years later he patented a fruit canning machine and a prototype hop picker followed in 1934.None of these reached the production stage, but success came in 1935 with an apple grader he designed, and in the same year he established FW McConnel, now called McConnel Ltd, to develop his ideas commercially.An improved version of his hop picking machine was available in 1937. He also made trailers that achieved special success in 1939 when his four-year-old company won a contract to supply them to the army during World War 2.
展开▼
