Stronger Together: The Merger of Two Leading Tractor Families
In 1917, George U. Lansdowne established a hardware and appliance firm. In 1937, he acquired the Ford tractor dealership with the financial backing of the Moody family from Galveston. Mr. Ed Erpp was the general manager at the time and ran the dealership for Mr. Lansdowne. Mr. Lansdowne eventually bought out the Moody family, becoming the sole owner. The original Lansdowne-Moody Company dealership was in downtown Houston on Texas Avenue.
In 1953, Ed Harris Sr. was hired as a general manager. After one year, Lansdowne-Moody Company grew to five employees with $200,000 in total sales - just the beginning of many years of growth. George Lansdowne remained in ownership until his death in 1959. At that time, Ed Harris Sr. purchased the company from the Lansdowne family. In 1962, Lansdowne-Moody Company outgrew the Texas Avenue location, so land was purchased on Lockwood and the business moved to that location in 1962.
After serving in the US Marines, Eddie Harris Jr. began to work for the company in 1964 and quickly moved up to general manager. As Houston began to grow on the southwest side, the decision was made to open a second location. Land was purchased on Fondren, and Lansdowne-Moody Company now had two locations once that store opened in 1969. Houston continued to grow, and Lansdowne-Moody Company grew along with the city. In 1978, Lansdowne-Moody once again outgrew its Lockwood location. The decision was made to move that location to one that would allow for future growth. That’s when the company moved to its current location at 8445 East Freeway, the current East Houston location. Then, Houston began to expand to the south, so to serve those who were moving to that area, the Webster location opened in 1983.
Two years later, Lansdowne-Moody Company became a Kubota tractor dealer with the opening of the northwest location in Cypress. Then, in May of 1992, the third generation of the Harris family began working with the company - Hunter Harris began in sales.Lansdowne-Moody Company was consistently a company eager to change as Houston changed. In 2000, after serving the southwest side for 33 years, the Fondren store was sold and relocated to Beltway 8 and Hwy 59 South, still on the southwest side of town. In 2002, Hunter Harris became Lansdowne-Moody Company’s general manager nearly 50 years after his grandfather took that position.
Lansdowne-Moody eventually grew to nine locations in and around Houston and thrived with the growing city.
Around 1998, I visited with Ed Harris Jr. to get business advice. Shortly after, I met his son Hunter who was a few years older than I, and we became fast friends. Over the years, Hunter and I spent time attending 20-Group meetings together, as well as serving on the Kubota Dealer Advisory Board. We also went fishing and hunting over the years, and always enjoyed each other’s company.
In 2024, when Hunter needed to exit the business, we made a deal for Ewald Kubota to take Lansdowne-Moody into the future. Sadly, Hunter passed away January 22nd, 2025. I can’t tell you enough of what an upstanding man Hunter Harris was. During his tenure as the leader of Lansdowne-Moody, I saw how he cared for his employees as if they were his own family members. He treated his co-workers not only with dignity and respect, but as a friend to all. I learned so much from Hunter over the years, I can only hope to someday be as good a guy as he was.
Today, I office out of our store in Selma, TX, but I visit each store often to talk with employees and customers. I come to work every day and stay close with our people as best I can. I realize I am the steward of several great businesses with rich history, and I do my best to treat all our employees, vendors and customers with the care and respect they deserve.
Thank you for stopping by our website.
-John Ewald