Tractor

If you are in search of resources for buying, selling or finding tractors or to information on tractors in general this website can be of great assistance. You can find almost any kind of tractor new, used or for rent and also learn just a little bit about the history of tractors.

The history of the tractor is a very interesting one and also one rich in American history. Today's tractor giants helped to carve out the American continent, supply war machine needs and help third world countries to develop. The earliest farm internal combustion engines were stationary and ran barn equipment such as threshers and other machinery. A few were mounted on wheels so they could be moved from field to field. These early tractor predecessors were useful but great improvements were on the way.

Early tractors used wide metal tires, most often in the rear of the machine to disperse the weight. The front tractor wheels often had ridges to help them steer in the dirt. Traction was a problem and this led to a continuous belt with slats to be engineered. This is the style that put the Caterpillar Company on the map and is still being used today.

The first engine-powered farm tractors were introduced in 1868. These early tractors were powered by steam. A gasoline fueled engine was created by Charter Gasoline Engine Company of Sterling, Illinois in 1887. These engines soon led to early gasoline traction engines, which brought the term ‘tractor' into use. A custom thresherman by the name of John Froelich decided to mount a Van Duzen gasoline engine on a Robinson chassis and rig his own gear for propulsion. He used it for 52 days in the harvest season of 1892. The Froelich tractor is considered to be the first successful gasoline tractor known. This first tractors paved the way for newer innovation including the famous two cylinder John Deere tractor.

Fordson was the first to mass-produce tractors starting in about 1916. Plowing speeds ran about 2.8 mph and these early tractors ran on kerosene, which allowed the tractor to plow 8 acres on one tank of fuel. 1932 brought the advent of pneumatic tires from Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. These tires made tractors work more efficiently and had many advantages over metal tires, including their weight.