A McLaughlin Body Company Timeline

History/ Timeline

McLaughlin Body Company’s history of providing ROPS/OPS safety and comfort for operator-controlled work equipment, military vehicles, and agricultural machinery continues today.

Riding the Currents. McLaughlin Body Company took root beside the Mississippi River in 1902 and has been living, moving, and evolving to its rhythms ever since.

Through two World Wars, developing the first Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) for International Harvester’s Farmall Tractor, and diversification into a wide range of vehicle and equipment markets, McLaughlin Body Company is now a seamless extension of many prominent original equipment manufacturers.

1902

1902

Wright Carriage Co. begins to build buggy bodies & surreys in Moline, IL

1906

Name changes to E.H. Wilson Mfg. Company

1914

1914

The auto arrives: Wilson makes bodies for Velie & Root VanderVoort cars, with sheet steel installed over wood frames. By 1928, Velie had turned out 75,000 cars.

1916-1918

Expansion of business occurs to make war products for France; car body lines include Velie, Moon, Stutz and Sterns-Knight

1929

Great Depression: Ray Cundy and Harry McLaughlin, a former E.H. Wilson patternmaker and draftsman, form Moline Mfg.

1931

1931

Name changes to McLaughlin Body Company as company moves into manufacturing truck cabs for Diamond T and panel truck bodies for GM; produces tractor cabs for Minneapolis Moline during the 1930's

1939-1945

1939-1945

WWII: McLaughlin Body Company supplies cabs for U.S. Army half-tracks

1956

McLaughlin Body Company moves into East Moline plant

1959

1959

Builds first cab for John Deere Combine

1960's

Develops the first Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) - for IH'S Farmall Tractor

1970's

Produces galvanized steel cab for Mack Truck

1980's

1980's

Reestablishes truck cab business with military

1987-88

Produces Ford CL-9000 aluminum truck cab; first in industry to install e-coat paint system

1990's

1990's

Expands into diversified markets such as construction and front-end header equipment; first to apply urethane sound, vibration and thermal insulation

2000's

2000's

Optimizes processes with automation, laser cutting, robotic welding and environmentally friendly powder coating

2008

2008

Produces more than 18,000 Armored Cab Frames for the LTAS truck

2009

Produces the Front-in Grain Header for CNH, support harvester equipment in China, Europe, Australia and North America

2010

2010

Awarded Prime Contract from TACOM for armored weapon interface ring; produces new generation Grain Header for CNH

2012

Launched newly designed John Deere Combine S-Series Cab

Anderson SC

2015

Production begins in McLaughlin Body Company's new manufacturing facility in Anderson, SC

2016

Implemented robotically applied LASD (Liquid Applied Sound Deadening) system to improve operator noise cancelling with customer base

2020

Launched multiple Deere C&F Cab projects