UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY

AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

NAME: ADEYEMI AYODEJI EMMANUEL

MATRIC NUMBER: 215315

TOPIC: REVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF

TRACTORS

IN PARTIAL FUFILMENT OF THE COURSE FARM POWER AND

MAINTENANCE (II)

COURSE CODE: TAE 413

 LECTURER-IN-CHARGE: PROFESSOR A.I. BAMGBOYE

NOVEMBER 7, 2022
INTRODUCTION

There’s no harder working piece of equipment on a farm than a Tractor. The

development of the tractor, from the innovative conception of saving time and effort
on agricultural operations, to the industrialization and mass production. Farm tractors
run so much of our lives and aid in more things than the average farmer may realize.
Its history is unique and thrilling. Here is just a snippet of the vast history of tractors.

Types of Tractors
Tractors are easy to recognize, most often coming in two general designs: two-wheel
and four-wheel drive, with either one or two axles respectively. Early tractors were all
two-wheel drive, with four-wheel drive tractors showing up in the 1960s when most
manufacturers were switching over to diesel engines instead of gasoline or kerosene.

Traditional tractor design has an open cab with large back wheels and smaller front
wheels centered beneath the engine and operator seat. Modern tractors of sufficient
size have enclosed cabs, both for safety and confort.

Tracked tractors were developed to operate in areas with wet soil and were
commonplace in the 1930s. You might have heard one of the big manufacturers here,
Caterpillar. Their tractors employed levers instead of steering wheels so their tracks
could be operated separately.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FARM TRACTORS

 Steam in Fields

Tractors first emerged in the early when steam engines on wheels were used to help
drive mechanical farm machinery using a flexible belt. The first portable steam engine
used for agricultural purposes was invented by Richard Trevithick in 1812 and it was
known as the Barn Engine. The Barn Engine was mainly used to drive a corn
threshing machine.
Some farmers bought these portable steam engines to run equipment like circular
saws for construction or threshing machines for separating and cleaning grain. Steam
engines made farm work less reliant on human brawn or animal power. Early versions
of steam-powered engines were not self-propelled and still needed to be towed into
the fields by teams of draft animals like horses and mules. In addition, the high cost of
the portable engines meant that only a few could afford them. Advances continued
and improvements to engines began to develop as the history of tractors continued

 Tractors are born (19th century)

Charles Hart and Charles Parr set up a business in Charles City, lowa, in 1900,
originally selling a two-cylinder gasoline engine they developed. In1903 the firm built
15 self-propelled traction engines. As part of their advertising campaign, their sales
manager invented a new word to describe their product: tractor. They coined “tractor”
from the original term “traction engine”

Their 14,000-pound tractor is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of

American History in Washington, D.C. as the oldest surviving internal combustion
engine tractor in the United States.
 Innovations in the 20th Century
The 20th century saw tractors evolve from time-saving pieces of farm equipment into
the farm staple that they are today, partly due to the competition and cooperation of
different manufacturers. Primary in this evolution was the Waterloo Company, which
invested in tractor research in 1911, leading to the development of kerosene-powered
tractors that competed against gasoline engines.
Between 1916-1922, more than 100 companies were producing farm tractors for farm
uses. John Deere had previously created the first steel plow in 1837, and by 1927 they
produced the first combine. By 1928, the first General Purpose Tractor was
introduced, which allowed for planting and cultivating three rows at a time, increasing
productivity. Until the late 1930s, farm tractors had steel wheels, making farmers very
cautious about whether rubber wheels would be able to do as much work as those
with steel wheels. However, by 1939, the Model “B” tractor was introduced with an
electric starter and lights, rubber tires, and higher horse-power. The Model “R” tractor
was the first John Deere tractor that had more than 40 horsepower, as well as the first
diesel tractor.
The evolution of tractors continued and by 1966, John Deere became the first
manufacturer to offer farmers a tractor that had a roll bar to help protect the operator.
By the early 1970s, farm tractors started to feature more comfortable seating for the
operator and a sound guard protecting the tractor cab, helping to shield them from
heat, cold, and dust. As technology advances, farming has become more and more
mechanized. From feeding animals to tilling the land, there is a farm tractor for every
need. This technology helps farmers to be more efficient, effective, and accurate in
how they plant and produce.
 Experimental tractors and high designs

Tractor use had successfully displaced mules and horses. Manufacturers refined the
equipment, adding new technology like three-point hitches and power take offs (to
power auxiliary equipment).Attractive styling helps sell even utilitarian vehicles.
Deere and Company hired Henry Dreyfuss's industrial design studio to enhance the
aesthetics of its tractors in an effort to be more competitive.

However, there are some landmarks and key moments in the development of farm
tractors that also tended to transform agriculture as a whole. They are as follows:

1. Pneumatic tires

The lugged steel wheels on early tractors limited travel speed. Heavy tractors were
used to achieve high pull and appreciable drawbar power. In 1932, Firestone Rubber
Company fitted an Allis Chalmers tractor with pneumatic tires, and other tractor
manufacturers were offering pneu- matic tires by 1933. By 1935, Nebraska tractor test
data showed a sharp increase in average test speed as more tractors had pneumatic
tires.

Higher travel speeds helped transform agriculture by allowing farm size to grow.
Barney Oldfield, a racecar driver, achieved publicity when he was ticketed for
speeding in 1933 while driving an Allis Chalmers Model U tractor through an Indiana
town. Most rubber-tired tractors could go 25 km/h (16 mph) or more on public
roadways, permitting farmers to include widely separated parcels in increasing the
size of their farming operations. Increasing average farm size led to fewer farmers, a
trend that was accelerated by the use of pneumatic tires.

2. The three-point hitch

Until the ASAE three-point hitch standard was developed in 1959, it was difficult or
impossible to mount one manufacturer’s implements on another manufac- turer’s
tractor. In 1936, Harry Ferguson began selling his light tractor equipped with his
three-point hitch, including automatic draft control, in the British Isles and Norway.
In 1938, after seeing Ferguson’s hitch, Henry Ford made a verbal agreement to
include it on the Ford Model 9N tractors that entered the market in 1939. After a
dispute ended the agreement in 1946, the two men became competitors in making
tractors.

Most tractor makers adopted the ASAE hitch standard after 1959, and use of one
manufacturer’s machines on another’s tractors became possible. The three-point hitch
accelerated the trend to larger farm sizes, because mounted or semi-mounted
implements are easier to transport at higher speeds than pull-type implements.

3. Tractor PTO

Experimental power takeoffs (PTOs) were tried as early as 1878, but in 1918, IHC
was first to install a PTO on a production tractor (Goering, 2004). This option was on
their Model 1530 tractor in 1920, when it was the first tractor with a PTO to undergo
a Nebraska tractor test. However, that PTO was not tested; rather, belt pulley power
was measured in those days. An early question was whether the PTO speed should be
keyed to ground speed or engine speed. In 1925, experience in rice producing states
demonstrated the wisdom of linking PTO speed to engine speed. The rice crop was
heavy and traction was poor, but the grain binders could run at full speed while travel
speed was reduced to accommodate the heavy crop. In 1926, ASAE adopted the first
PTO standard that specified the direction, speed, size, shape and location of the PTO
shaft. The first standard speed was 536 rpm, later rounded off to 540 rpm. Later, when
power demands rose, the 1000 rpm PTO was developed.

The PTO helped transform agriculture. It enabled operations previously accomplished

at the farmstead to be done in the field. Before the PTO, for example, hay was usually
harvested and hauled to the farmstead in loose form. At the farm ‐ stead, it could be
baled by a belt‐driven, stationary baler. In addition, the mechanical corn picker only
became practical after development of the PTO. Hand harvesting was very la ‐ bor
intensive, so the mechanical corn picker became an enor‐ mous labor saver.

4. Hydraulic Systems

Raising or lowering implements, steering, and other tractor ‐related tasks can require
heavy effort. Before there were hydraulic systems on tractors, the effort had to be sup‐
plied by the tractor operator or, in some cases, mechanically. Some tractors were
equipped with a clutch that, when triggered by a foot pedal, would rotate a rockshaft
to which lift arms could be attached for raising implements. On tractors without such
devices, the energy to lift implements out of the ground had to be supplied by the
operator.

The Ford 9N tractor with the Ferguson three point hitch, introduced in 1939, was
equipped with a hydraulic system. The author has been unable to find any earlier
inclusion of a hydraulic system on a farm tractor. Harold Brock, who at the age of 93
at the ASABE centennial celebration in Minneapolis, reported on his experiences in
working with Henry Ford, helped develop the hydraulic system on the Ford 9N.

Open‐center hydraulic systems include a fixeddis- placement pump supplying an

actuator through a tandem center directional control valve. Such systems are in-
expensive and function well with a single actuator. When more than one actuator is
used, the system pressure rises to that of the actuator with the lowest pressure
demand, which could create problems. When the author was with IHC in 1960, the
company developed a sickle bar mower powered by a hydraulic motor. In a field test,
the mower worked well in cutting heavy grass until the operator raised the hitch, at
which point the mower stalled. The hitch lift cylinder had a lower pressure demand
than the hydraulic motor powering the mower. Thus, the hydraulic fluid took the path
of least resistance and stopped flowing to the hydraulic motor. The phenomenon is
called sequencing, i.e., when two actuators have different pressure demands, the one
with the heavier demand has to wait until the one with the lighter demand stops
receiv‐ ing hydraulic fluid.

Over the years, improved hydraulic systems were developed. When John Deere
introduced their “New Generation of Power” in 1960, they introduced a constant
pressure system featuring a variable displacement pump that adjusted its stroke to
maintain constant system pressure at a level designed to handle the heaviest load. The
constant pressure systems were later succeeded by load sensing systems. These
systems include a variable displacement pump in which a stoke control valve senses
the highest pressure demand in the system and increases the pump stroke enough to
meet that demand. Constant pressure systems and load sensing systems avoid
sequencing if the total fluid demand can be supplied by the pump operating at part
stroke.

Tractor hydraulic systems have removed physical strength as a prerequisite to being a

tractor operator. With the touch of a lever, the operator can now control the movement
of very heavy loads. When coupled with electronic systems, tractor hydraulic systems
also enable automatic control of steering and other functions, control that would have
been very difficult to provide without hydraulics.

5. Row crop tractors

Early tractors were unsuited for row crop work. Until 1924, farmers used animals for
inter-row cultivation. Then IHC introduced Bert Benjamin’s (an agricultural
engineer!) Farmall tractor. Its narrow front end and high rear axle clearance allowed
for inter-row cultivation as well as drawbar work. The Farmall started the demise of
animal- powered agriculture, although some draft animal use persisted through World
War II. Eliminating draft animals freed the 25 percent of farmland used to feed them
and made more land available for other uses, thus accelerating the transition to an
economy in which fewer people were needed on farms.
6. Comfort and safety

Early tractors were not known for comfort and safety. For example, starting one of
these tractors usually required turning a hand crank at the front of the tractor or
spinning a flywheel at the side of the tractor. If the tractor was inadvertently left in
gear and started easily, the person starting the engine could suddenly find himself
standing directly in front of a moving tractor, with his life on the line. Tractor seats
were typically of the steel pan type, with no cushioning. The logic of tractor controls
varied from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some tractors had a foot operated clutch,
while other clutches were hand operated. Even hand operated clutches differed; some
were engaged by pushing them forward, while others were engaged by pulling them
backward. An operator, moving from one tractor to another, could easily become
confused and get into life threatening situations.

7. Traction improvements

Because the drawbar is one of the most used but least efficient methods of using
tractor power, traction has been the subject of much research, resulting in traction
improvements. Pneumatic tires improved traction by allowing drawbar power to be
developed with more speed and less pull. Added ballast on the drive wheels reduces
slip. When pneumatic tires were introduced in the 1930s, B.F. Goodrich discovered
that use of water in the tires helped improve traction (Gray, 1954b). Calcium chloride
was added to prevent freezing. Radial tires, introduced on tractors in the 1980s,
tolerate lower inflation pressures and provide a bigger soil tire footprint to improve
traction. In addition, use of mounted implements rather than pull type implements
helps increase the loading on the drive wheels, thus improving traction