A Brief History of Tractors

Reader Contribution by Bart Hunter

Authors note: The purpose of this blog is to open a conversation about tractors. It is intended for the small to medium sized farmer. I believe that the best way to start this type of conversation is with a bit of history to set the stage.

In colonial times, oxen were the mainstay of colonial farmers. They were cheap. To continue producing, milk cows need to be dried off — stop producing milk and bred. If the calf is a bull, it is easy to make it into an ox. Another advantage of oxen is they can be worked hard immediately after a layoff. On the other hand, if a horse is worked too hard after a layoff, it can founder.

As farms grew in size, horses became increasingly important. The opening of the west to farming could not have occurred without the horse. Horses are faster than oxen, so they can cover more ground. In the first part of the twentieth century, the focus slowly shifted to tractors as farms continued to grow.

Early tractors were essentially steam locomotives built to run on roads instead of rails. They were known as traction engines. In their new role, a different drive system was designed. The steam produced by the boiler was used to drive a piston connect via a connecting rod to a crank shaft. The crank shaft turned a bull gear. The bull gear then turned the wheels through a clutch and a chain driven transmission system. These tractors were large and very heavy. Many of the very early ones were not even self-propelled — they would be towed to where a source of energy was needed. A sheave drove a belt that that ran a thresher or other stationary machine.    

Due to their size and slow speed, the traction engines were replaced in the early twentieth century with gas engine tractors. At first, these were nearly as large as the smallest steam tractors. Indeed, they even used iron wheels. Many had various types of spikes to provide traction in the fields. Amenities on both the steam tractors and the early gas tractors were nonexistent. A few had sheet metal roofs and — if you were lucky — a seat. Implements, for the most part, were adapted from horse-drawn equipment and towed behind the tractor.

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