Farm Tractor Equipment: A Large Investment With Interesting History
Searching for farm tractor equipment can be as time consuming as searching for a new car. Tractors come in a large variety of size and style. Which you purchase will be based upon your needs. A tractor is a large investment so do some research before heading out to the local farm supply.
Tractors have a fascinating history. In 1897 the first tractor was developed for optimal use and they have been going strong since. This much needed farm necessity has seen many changes over the years. Currently there are tractors small enough to simply mow the lawn to extensive enough to help with a large farm.
It is hard not to be taken aback when you view a vintage tractor. The nostalgia kicks in and the first impulse is to purchase a vintage piece of equipment for help with the farm. However, in reality it is wise to steer clear from nostalgia and think futuristic.
Years ago the only place you would see a tractor would be in the country and then it was a luxury compared to many neighbors who used a horse and plow… Th...
Company Overview – Caterpillar Tractor Co. was founded in 1925 and was the product of a merger between The Holt Manufacturing Company, owned by BBB HHH, and C.L Best Tractor Co., owned by DDD BBB. The company had a great demand in WWI and this lead to the first foreign operation of many to come in the future.
In Three stages of American automobile consciousness, Flink states that the automobile industry growing rapidly in both urban and suburban area , and it gradually becomes a core industry of the economy in the 20th century. The auto industry facilitates the relation between city and suburban area and speed the pace of building modern agriculture. So, it seems like that automobile do more good than harm in the rural area. For example, in Flink’s article, it says “The general adoption of the automobile by farmers promised to break down the isolation of rural life, lighten farm labor and reduce significantly the cost of transporting farm products to market. (p6，Three Stages of American Automobile Consciousness)” Whereas in fact the Kline and Pinch
The International Harvester Company began experimenting with tractors in 1905. International Harvester’s first tractor was the Mogul 8-16. (About Farmall and IH) The International Harvester company then went to the F series until 1938. In 1939 the International Harvester Company paid Raymond Loewy to reshape the F series. These tractors had more sheet metal, such as the hood and grill. These reshaped tractors became known as the Letter series. International Harvester made the letter series till 1954. International also made the “Super” tractors from 1952 to 1954. (Farmall Letter Series) This leads me to the Super M-TA which was made from 1953 to 1954.
Through the period of 1865-1900, America’s agriculture underwent a series of changes .Changes that were a product of influential role that technology, government policy and economic conditions played. To extend on this idea, changes included the increase on exported goods, do the availability of products as well as the improved traveling system of rail roads. In the primate stages of these developing changes, farmers were able to benefit from the product, yet as time passed by, dissatisfaction grew within them. They no longer benefited from the changes (economy went bad), and therefore they no longer supported railroads. Moreover they were discontented with the approach that the government had taken towards the situation.
John Deere was born in Vermont in 1804. His father went to England to find a job in 1808 and never came back, so he was primarily raised by his mother with his three brothers and his one sister. He was an educated man, and had always been fascinated with blacksmithing. At the age of 17, Deere got his first apprenticeship as a blacksmith in Middlebury. He was so talented, that with just a three year apprenticeship he was able to gain so much knowledge and start his own blacksmith company in 1825. Blacksmithing in Vermont wasn’t as substantial as in the West because the soil wasn’t as hard, so when Deere’s business wasn’t flourishing he packed up and moved to the West.
Ronald Stuart Thomas was a Welsh poet and Anglican Clergyman who lived from 1913 to 2000. He spent all of his life in small farming communities in isolated parts of Wales. He didn't care for the modern world, but instead believed in living a traditional life. After reading these two poems, it becomes apparent that R.S Thomas' views on the developing technological world and the traditional ways influenced his poetic work greatly. He was very concerned about the environment, and this idea is clearly stated in the poem Lore, especially were he says:
Along with the hopes of creating successful lives they additionally brought a revolution to agricultural systems. Many inventions and innovations were created in the United States during the 1800’s because of the influx of immigrant farmers. Immigrants contributed new ideas for businesses, farming, and transportation. Because agriculture was the main industry in Minnesota at this time, immigrant farmers needed a way to transfer their products easily and fast. With the high demand from immigrant farmers for innovations, solutions were finally produced by the mid-1800’s. Roads in between towns were officially marked, railroads were laid from small towns and farms to major cities, and rivers were dug up to make room for steamboats. These innovations were all devised for the benefits of farmers to move their goods and for people, such as immigrants, to be able to easily access any place in the United States. With these inventions it made it easier for new businesses and towns to emerge. New farming inventions such as the mechanical reaper and walk behind steel plows were also invented during this time. Finally, in 1862 to 1875, the first agricultural revolution occurred as farmers switched from hand power to horses. From then on everything was horse-drawn. Innovations in the agricultural industry were due to the high demand from the large numbers of immigrant farmers, without these innovations, the agricultural business in Minnesota would not have progressed as rapidly as it
New technologies not only allowed farming to become more efficient, but made the process of shipping crops west much easier. The most important innovation in farming itself was the horse-drawn combine, which required many horses to operate, but allowed wheat, a popular crop to grow in the west, to be harvested en masse. (Document D) However, railroads were also incredibly important for farmers, as they allowed Wheat, cotton, and corn to be transported across the country
... as farmers became more conscious of prices rising to transport their goods, they were forced to find other means of transportation to distribute their goods.
Steam powered harvesters and tractors were introduced by the end of 19th century. It started to gradually replace horses. However in some regions they created new problems as well. Vehicles proved to be too heavy for soft soils and often stuck and even sunk. Experiments with various sizes of wheels didn't produce good results. Increasing size of wheels just made vehicles heavier and more difficult to operate.
...o. “The Great Agricultural Transition: Crisis, Change, and Social Consequence of the Twentieth Century US Farming”. Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 103-124.
In recent history, farming in America has changed dramatically, and Naylor’s farm is representative of many in the American Corn Belt. Though it began growing a variety of crops and keeping livestock too, Naylor now only plants corn and soybeans. In Naylor’s grandfather’s days, the farm fed the whole family with just enough left over for twelve others. Now, Naylor indirectly feeds an estimated 129 people, but this does not mean his farm is any more successful. In fact, Naylor’s farm cannot financially support his family.
Since their founding in 1837, John Deere has led the agriculture industry around the world. For over 135 years the John Deere leaping deer logo is one of the most recognized logos in existence today, it represents a symbol of quality products (Our History, 2017). As of May 2017, John Deere has over 56,800 employees in factories, facilities, and offices located in 30 countries and they are listed as number 260 on the world’s largest public companies (Deere and Company, 2017). The John Deere name is linked to designing and engineering products and services that are committed to the land. With product lines that range from balers, tractors, and lawn mowers, they also have product lines for forestry services, government support, and construction.
Technology has served as the prime force in removing the farmer's hands from the soil. This technology has come in the form of machinery - and bigger and more "advanced" machinery - and in the form of chemical fertilizers. In a book review of Kent Meyers' The Witness of Combines, Pat Deninger writes:
Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...