Three generations of IH parts expertise.
Family owned and operated in Bourbon, Indiana since 1965.
Bates Corporation has been selling new, used, and rebuilt International Harvester and Case IH tractor parts since 1965. What started as a cattle farm and trucking operation in Bourbon, Indiana turned into one of the largest IH parts distributors in the country. Built by Jay Bates, carried forward by his family, and still run out of the same small town sixty years later. We stock over 50,000 parts and answer every phone call ourselves.
Our family understands the quality farmers demand, because we farm too.
It all started with Jay Bates. After graduating from Bourbon High School in 1951, Jay studied agriculture at Purdue University for a year before answering the call to serve in the U.S. Army. Jay received his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, before transferring to Fontainebleau, France, where he remained until his honorable discharge in 1955.
Back in Bourbon after his honorable discharge, Jay started a livestock hauling business in 1955, moving cattle through the Chicago Union Stockyards for nearly two decades. Along the way, he put down deeper roots as a local farmer, raising grain crops and Holstein replacement heifers.
Jay spent the 1960s hauling livestock through the Chicago Stockyards, raising Holstein heifers, and farming the land in Bourbon. Bates Corporation was originally founded as a livestock hauling business.
Jay Bates and Sue Haenes of Bremen, Indiana, eloped on Valentine's Day 1969 to Watseka, Illinois. The newlyweds later celebrated with a honeymoon at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.
As a cattle producer, Jay raised Holstein replacement heifers that were in demand far beyond Marshall County. On multiple occasions, Jay hauled cattle to O'Hare Airport in Chicago to be loaded onto planes and flown overseas to Iran, where they were part of an effort to boost dairy production in the region.
Jay and Sue had identical twin daughters, Patti and Terri. They were the second generation, and they grew up around the trucks, the cattle, and eventually the parts. Both still run the business today.
The first tractor Bates Corporation ever parted out was a 706 gas narrow front end, purchased from a local barn fire less than a mile from where the business sits today. At the time, Jay was still balancing the cattle business alongside the growing parts operation, running things with just one or two full-time employees and a handful of high schoolers who pitched in after school.
Bates Corporation fed its last Holstein replacement heifer, closing the book on the cattle side of the business for good. The feedlot was transformed into a tractor salvage yard, giving Jay the space he needed to go all in on parts. He never looked back.
Bates Corporation exited the livestock hauling business, as there was simply very little left to haul in the Bourbon area. With the parts business growing exponentially, Jay turned his full attention to helping farmers find the tractor parts they needed.
Sue Bates brought Bates Corporation into the digital age with the purchase of the company's first IBM computer. Connected to a nationwide hotline linking salvage yards across the country, the IBM computer opened the door to buying and selling tractor parts like never before, and positioned Bates Corporation as a pioneer in the online parts business.
Bates Corporation had grown to four employees as the parts business picked up steam year after year. There was no fancy advertising, word of mouth did the work. Orders came in from across the United States, and parts were taken right off the tractors sitting on the lot and shipped out to keep farmers running.
Jay and Sue made the trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, for one of the earliest National Tractor Parts Dealer Association (NTPDA) meetings. As a charter member of the newly formed association, Jay helped establish the network that would connect tractor parts dealers from coast to coast.
An extension of the main parts offices had been completed, giving Bates Corporation much-needed space for additional computers, filing cabinets, parts books, and business records to keep up with the growing operation.
Word had traveled far beyond the United States. Bates Corporation began receiving parts requests from customers overseas, including Australia, New Zealand, and England. The small operation in Bourbon, Indiana, was earning a worldwide reputation.
The warehouse grew once more as Bates Corporation added space to keep pace with demand. Along with the expansion, a new computer system was brought on board to keep up with the paperwork, orders, invoices, and records were piling up as fast as the parts were shipping out.
Brian and Kenny started at Bates Corporation in 1995. Thirty years later they're still here, and both help run the business. They became part of the family a long time ago.
Every part in stock was moved onto a computer-based inventory system. The transition streamlined the parts business and helped position Bates as a pioneer in tractor parts ecommerce.
After 32 years at the helm, Jay Bates stepped down as President of Bates Corporation. Since 1965, Jay had built the business from a small farm and livestock hauling operation into a tractor parts replacement company known worldwide. His dreams and ambitions fueled the growth and diversification that made Bates Corporation what it is today.
batescorp.com started as a college project and changed the business forever. For the first time, customers could browse the Bates inventory and buy parts online. The website became a cornerstone of the parts business and remains so today.
Construction began on a brand-new, purpose-built facility at 12351 Elm Road in Bourbon, Indiana. The state-of-the-art building would feature 21,000 sq ft of climate-controlled warehouse space and 5,000 sq ft of front office space.
Jay and Sue Bates marked thirty years of marriage. They had eloped to Watseka, Illinois on Valentine's Day in 1969, and they built the whole business together in the years since. Jay ran the yard and the parts, Sue ran the computers and the books.
Bates Corporation officially moved into its new home at 12351 Elm Road. The climate-controlled warehouse was a major leap forward, protecting inventory and allowing Bates to stock more parts than ever before. From this new home base, Bates Corporation could now store and ship parts to customers around the globe.
Bates Corporation was consistently shipping parts to customers around the world, with regular orders going to New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland, Guam, South Africa, Australia, and more. What had been occasional overseas requests had become a steady part of the business.
Construction finished on a dedicated teardown and rebuild shop, creating a purpose-built space to disassemble salvage tractors and rebuild components in-house. The shop opened the door to a larger inventory of professionally rebuilt parts and helped cement Bates as a destination for hard-to-find rebuilt IH and Case IH parts.
Jay's first grandsons, Trent and Brandon, were born a few weeks apart. They were the third generation. The two of them grew up in the front offices and rode behind Jay's tractor in the summer parades. Both came back to work at Bates as adults.
During summer parades, Jay would hitch a railroad baggage cart to a tractor and tow his grandsons Trent and Brandon down the route. It was one of his favorite traditions.
Bates Corporation introduced Bates Exclusives, a line of parts only available through Bates. The new line filled gaps the factory had stopped supporting, replaced pieces that were always worn out in used inventory, and solved problems the team had run into firsthand.
A second warehouse was built on the north end of the property, taking on overflow from the climate-controlled main warehouse. Known as the North Building, the new structure gave Bates room for parts, large assemblies, and the tractors and equipment the family used on their own farming operation.
Throughout the 2010s, Bates Corporation traveled to auctions across the Midwest in pursuit of inventory. Entire collections of used parts, parts tractors, and new-old-stock pieces came back to Bourbon, deepening the catalog and giving customers access to parts they couldn't find anywhere else.
Jay Bates passed away in 2016. He spent more than fifty years building the business, from hauling livestock through the Chicago stockyards to running a parts company that shipped around the world. He raised his daughters and grandsons in these front offices, and they run Bates today. The business he built keeps going.
Bates Corporation launched a sister company, Bates Auction & Realty. Family-owned and run, the new business handles auctions for antiques, equipment, land, real estate, and more.
Sue Bates passed away in 2020, four years after Jay. She married him in 1969 and worked alongside him the whole way. Sue brought the first computer into Bates and ran the orders, the inventory, and the books for years. She saw the business grow from their home in Bourbon into a company that shipped parts across the world.
Construction finished on a farm equipment building at the original Bates location. With the family's tractors and equipment moved there, the North Building gained even more room for parts inventory.
After college, Trent and Brandon returned full-time to Bates Corporation. The boys who grew up running around the front offices were now the third generation working in the business.
Bates Corporation launched a brand-new website paired with a new computer inventory system. The upgrade modernized how customers shop and how the team tracks every part on the shelf.
Trent and Brandon began posting Facebook videos showing the inventory, the work, and the parts coming through the shop. The videos expanded the reach of the parts business through social media, drawing more than 10 million views in their first six months.
