In 1969 J.D. Woods, a rice farmer, built his first four wheel drive tractor on a farm near Katy, Texas. In 1971 he teamed up with an engineer named Jones Copeland and built the first three Model 301C tractors for use on his farm. These rugged tractors were used for water leveling the rice fields. One of the tractors racked up 9,000 hours with very few problems under extremely harsh mud and water conditions.
In 1973 eight more tractors were produced on the Woods farm. All eight were sold and the Woods & Copeland became well known for it’s durability.
In 1974 the company moved to Wharton, Texas, and built 28 tractors.
The next year, 44 units were built and in 1976 peaked at 75 tractors. The most commonly produced models were the 320C and the 450C. The model number describes the horsepower of the tractor.
In late 1976 Woods & Copeland was purchased by Rome Plow Company.
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