All About Tractors By Paul Wallem By 1920, 259 different groups had attempted to design and sell tractors. Only a few survived. The very first creator was John Froehlich, who mounted a gas engine on the running gear of a steam engine. It was maneuverable, had a reverse gear, and could move at 3 mph. In 1894, he accumulated eight investors to form Waterloo Gasoline Tractor Co. The company sold 20 units until 1918, when it marketed the highly successful Waterloo Boy, a single-speed tractor that sold 118 the first year. JOHN DEERE bought the above company for $2.4 million that same year. Meanwhile, many other companies designed a variety of tractors with mixed success. The few survivors are listed below alphabetically. ALLIS CHALMERS was formed in 1901 and introduced its first tractor in 1914. AC tractor sales grew when it purchased Advance-Rumely in 1931, an already successful company. J I CASE founded the company in his name in 1842. The company became the largest thresher manufacturer in the world. Their first tractor, the 30-60, was announced in 1911. HOLT marketed the first ag crawler tractor in 1908, then later became known as Caterpillar. FORD built an experimental tractor in 1907, and several other experimental models appeared in 1915. A name conflict resulted in Ford renaming its tractor Fordson in 1917. Ford built 34,167 units in 1918, which placed it first in U.S. tractor sales. GENERAL MOTORS entered the tractor business by purchasing Samson Tractor Works in 1918. However, following annual losses, they dropped out of the industry in 1922. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER was formed from the 1902 merger of McCormick and Deering. The first International tractors were built in 1906. Their large Tractor Works was built in Chicago in 1910. From 1907 to 1911, IH built 607 Type A gas tractors. MASSEY HARRIS first entered the tractor business in 1917. They purchased the well-known Wallis Tractor Co. in 1928. MINNEAPOLIS-MOLINE resulted from a 1929 merger of three smaller companies. One, Minneapolis Steel, had been building the Twin-City tractor. The first Minneapolis-Moline tractors were in 1929 from that merger. OLIVER FARM EQUIPMENT CORPORATION was formed in 1929 by merging four companies. One of those four, Hart-Parr, built its first tractor in 1903. Louisville National Farm Machinery Show The dates this year are Feb. 12 – 15. The show will be at 937 Phillips Lane, Louisville, Ky. Twelve million square feet will house 800 exhibitors, displaying virtually everything that is on the ag market. Presentations will be conducted at many displays, and some will host seminars. A championship tractor pull will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon Saturday. Tickets are on sale. Admission to the rest of the show is free. Parking is $12. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. For wheelchair and scooter rentals, see INFO@Scootertime.com. For more information, visit nationalfarmmachineryshow.com. Progress of electric farm tractors Research and development continue to move forward, faster at some engineering departments than others. Primary customers continue to purchase increasing numbers of small horsepower tractors for use in orchards and vineyards, where they are used near a charging station. Dairy use is also a growing market. All these customer demands derive from labor shortages. Larger tractors operate farther from charging facilities, yet they require charging more often due to their extra horsepower. As a result, the market is increasing slowly. Manufacturer’s websites provide a good indication of the progress and availability of their electric power. Kubota started e-development in 2018 and now markets its LXe-261 model, primarily in Europe. Monarch tractors are in production in an Ohio factory. Their 40-and 70-horsepower models are in demand in orchards and vineyards. Deere is introducing battery-electric (BEV) to specific value crop farms, nuts and fruit growers in particular. All are under 130 HP at this point. Case IH Farmall 75 HP Electric is entering the market, as is New Holland in a similar model. Fendt e100 Vario and E107 Vario are currently on the market. As this market gradually increases in size, virtually all tractor manufacturers have projects under development or in production. A major goal continues to be reducing CO2 emissions. Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH in domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH & SUCCESSES & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. Email your comments to pwallem@aol.com. |
