Peter Pakosh started work as a tool designer in Massey-Harris’s Toronto plant in the 1940s. In 1963, after a stint manufacturing grain augers and self-propelled swathers, he and his brother-in- law, Rob Robinson, incorporated as the Versatile Manufacturing Company and relocated to Winnipeg to be closer to the western Canadian market that they were servicing. The principle behind their line was to keep the product as simple and inexpensive as possible. They purchased diesel engines from Cummins, which already was supplying the transport and construction industries, and much of the company’s promotional material was printed on newsprint rather than glossy paper. Versatile remained the only independent Canadian tractor manufacturer until its 1998 sale to New Holland.