As a young boy Lyle Yost always knew he had a calling to help farmers. He started out combing the countryside for farm equipment that had been abandoned and buried during the Dust Bowl Era, and either repairing them for sale or salvaging for parts. In 1947 in partnership with Adin Holdeman a revolutionary harvest implement, the unloading auger, was developed and an immediate success. Thus Hesston Manufacturing was born in Hesston, Kansas.

In 1977, Fiat tractors were imported under the Hesston name.