De Lille Stotz
At the 2023 edition of the Werktuigendagen, De Lille was allowed to display a renovated Stotz Tractor on their stand.
The relationship between De Lille and agricultural mechanization, which goes back to the early 1950s, was beautifully illustrated at this special edition of the Werktuigendagen.
Anecdote from the 1950s
As a young boy, Mr. Allenbroer De Lille, founder of De Lille s.a./Merlo Benelux, was assigned the task of creating the logo.
For this purpose, Allenbroer personally made a mold in which aluminum -recycled from old American cars- was poured and thus a beautiful logo was obtained. Unfortunately, the mold has been lost.
Translation from an extract from the oldtimer article for Werktuigendagen 2023 by Tim Decoster - Agricultural Life:
"Just outside the oldtimer area, at the booth of Merlo importer De Lille, we found another beautifully restored tractor, a Stotz Diesel. Merlo importer De Lille has a unique connection with the Stotz Diesel tractor. Indeed, the grandfather of the current generation of De Lille business owners (Stijn and Maaike) is the designer of the Stotz Diesel. Jozef De Lille became a distributor of Steyren Zetor tractors in the early 1950s. In 1954 he decides to build his own tractor together with his sons, in addition to selling the aforementioned brands. It is 1 of his 3 sons, namely Allen brother De Lille, who started importing Merlo in the mid-80s. As a brand name, father Jozef De Lille chose the German-sounding "Stotz," because at that time anything coming from Germany guaranteed solidity. Deutz was the engine supplier and Hürth supplied the swingarms and transmissions. Slabbinck of SintMichiels Brugge was responsible for the sheet metal work. De Lille made its own mold to cast the logo with aluminum they recycled from American cars. There were 2 types of Stotzt tractors: one with 24 hp and one with 26 hp. The arrival of more modern and cheaper tractors definitely marked the end for the Stotzt tractors in 1959, of which about 60 were made."
