David Brown

David Brown Engineering Limited is an English engineering company, principally engaged in the manufacture of gears and gearboxes. Personally controlled since its inception by David Brown (1904–1993) the first venture into tractor production was in a joint project with Harry Ferguson in 1936 building the Ferguson-Brown tractor. David Brown became one of the biggest British tractor manufacturers in the post war period, with a major manufacturing plant at Meltham, West Yorkshire England.

In 1972 the tractor operations were sold to Tenneco Inc. of America, who owned the J.I. Case tractor company. The sale was due to a combination of a reduction in the UK tractor market, increased product development costs, the need to meet new regulations on health and safety, and increased competition from imported machinery. Case applied the David Brown name and branding to some of its own tractor models in the UK market until the early 1980s before abandoning it in favour of the Case IH brand.