Versatile Tractors: A Farm Boy's Dream

Theresa Paltzat is the Smart Search librarian at the Edmonton Public
Library.

Readers should not expect a dry history of annual reports and corporate
goals from this work about Versatile Manufacturing Ltd. This attractive
coffee-table book gets personal about the company and its humble start.
The author, Jarrod Pakosh, is the grandson of Peter Pakosh, a
Saskatchewan farm boy who moved to Toronto in 1940 and began designing
farm machinery in his basement. Together with his brother-in-law Roy
Robinson, Pakosh used his innovative designs to create a Canadian
company that grew to be a respected farm machinery force in North
America and

Europe.

The book takes the reader from the early days on the farm near Canora,
Saskatchewan, to the later ownership of the company by Ford New Holland
and Buhler. Excerpts from Pakosh’s memoirs are included throughout,
giving readers a first-hand account of the creation of Versatile
tractors and machinery. The book includes beautiful colour photos of the
tractors themselves as well as pictures of the original sketches,
advertisements, owner’s manuals, and promotional material. The minimal
text consists of short paragraphs and captions accompanying the
pictures.

Versatile Tractors is a splendid book for anyone interested in farming
or machinery.