The invention of the farm tractor helped farmers in the US to become one of the world's leading agricultural providers. Millions of people would be fed because the tractor enabled farmers to farm thousands of acres of land.
At the start of the 20th Century the US farmers were growing mostly wheat, corn and cotton on the farm land and raising livestock that allowed them to produce dairy products. There were two main sources for farm power, steam boilers and draft livestock. The steam boilers were used on threshing equipment and the draft animals were used in the fields to pull plows, harrows, mowers, reapers and other types of farm equipment. In 1910 an estimated 24 million horses and mules lived on American farms. Also, these animals were needed for moving people, crops and goods. But, these animals ate huge quantities of food, eating an estimated 20 percent of what the farmer grew.
In 1902 the first gas powered traction engines known as tractors were actually marketed. These machines weighed about 25,000 pounds and had huge steel wheels or tracks. These were very expensive and most often farmers could not afford them. Manufacturers did decrease the size of tractors to 2,000 to 6,000 pounds and also the price tags to less than $1,000. These machines were used to pull equipment such as plows, harrows, cultivators, etc.
Henry Ford introduced a small inexpensive tractor prior to World War I called the Fordson. It was able to sell well particularly during the war since there was a shortage of horses. However, as farm prices collapsed in 1920, Ford reduced the cost of the tractor from $625 to $395. Two companies competed for the farm market throughout most of the 1920's, Ford and International Harvester. Eventually, Ford needed to use the tractor assembly lines for the Model-A and therefore the company left the tractor business completely in 1928.
In 1925 International Harvester had introduced a general purpose tractor called the Farmall. Because this machine was compact, it worked well for plowing, cultivating and cutting. Comparable tractors were actually now being made by a number of manufacturers. Three modifications were made to the tractors that enhanced their usefulness, the power lift which allowed an implement to be elevated during field turns, rubber tires which did less harm to the fields and diesel powered engines that allowed low cost diesel fuel. The peak manufacturing of tractors was in 1951 when 564,000 tractors were manufactured in the United States.
Tractors today have become monsters in the fields with surrounded cabs having heating and air conditioning in addition to television and stereos. However, the manufacturing of small tractors has been relocated overseas.
It is expected the importance of the diesel tractors for farming will remain high in the US as worldwide farm commodity price levels continue to increase.
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