History of Killbros

Brotherly Beginnings

Kill Brothers began when brothers Luke and William opened a small welding and radiator shop in Delphos, Ohio during World War II. Shortly after the wars end, brothers Richard and Linus, joined the business and they expanded by becoming a Case Farm Implement dealer and manufacturing towers for television antennas.

A Step Forward

This lasted until 1954, when they decided to turn to manufacturing something totally different, and developed a gravity grain box. With the growing market for grain boxes, they quickly established themselves exclusively as a farm equipment manufacturer, foregoing their other businesses. The manufacturing business quickly outgrew their downtown location and by 1964, a new plant was constructed west of Delphos to meet the growing demand.

Kill Brothers quickly became Killbros, and the trademark orange and blue color scheme of their gravity grain wagons soon became a common sight across the countryside during harvest. In 1972, they celebrated the manufacturing of their 100,000th gravity grain box. From there, they eventually expanded into two-wheeled grain carts, utility transports for hauling grain platforms and even into secondary tillage products.

Moving into the Future

In 1993, Luke Kill, the only remaining brother, decided it was time to retire at the young age of 80 and began searching for buyers. Many companies showed interest, but Luke's priority was to maintain the family-oriented philosophies and feel for his employees in the new buyer. Even though they were competitors for many years, Luke felt that the Unverferth family was the best suitor and the deal was inked.

Today, the Delphos facility continues producing a wide variety of quality farm equipment, including Killbros, Top Air, Unverferth, Parker and Brent products. In addition to the timeless tradition of orange grain boxes with blue gears, red and green Killbros grain carts and high-capacity wagons can now be seen across the countryside throughout harvest. The Killbros tradition of value and quality continues today in a wide variety of products.