![]() ![]() Steam-powered agricultural engines remained in use well into the 20th century until reliable internal combustion engines had been developed. In the United States, where soil conditions permitted, steam tractors were used to direct-haul plows. In Britain Mann's and Garrett developed steam tractors for direct ploughing, but the heavy, wet soil of England meant that these designs were less economical than a team of horses. They were used in pairs, placed on either side of a field to haul a plow back and forth between them using a wire cable. The first tractors were steam-powered plowing engines. It was widely adopted for agricultural use. The first half of the 1860s was a period of great experimentation but by the end of the decade the standard form of the traction engine had evolved and changed little over the next sixty years. ![]() The alteration was made by fitting a long driving chain between the crankshaft and the rear axle. The first proper traction engine, in the form recognisable today, was developed in 1859 when British engineer Thomas Aveling modified a Clayton & Shuttleworth portable engine, which had to be hauled from job to job by horses, into a self-propelled one. These experiments met with mixed success. In most cases this was achieved by fitting a sprocket on the end of the crankshaft, and running a chain from this to a larger sprocket on the rear axle. ![]() In parallel with the early portable engine development, many engineers attempted to make them self-propelled – the fore-runners of the traction engine. In the 1850s, John Fowler used a Clayton & Shuttleworth portable engine to drive apparatus in the first public demonstrations of the application of cable haulage to cultivation. A large flywheel was mounted on the crankshaft, and a stout leather belt was used to transfer the drive to the equipment being driven. The truly portable engine was invented in 1893 by William Tuxford of Boston, Lincolnshire who started manufacture of an engine built around a locomotive-style boiler with horizontal smoke tubes. Richard Trevithick designed the first 'semi-portable' stationary steam engine for agricultural use, known as a "barn engine" in 1812, and it was used to drive a corn threshing machine. The first powered farm implements in the early 19th century were portable engines – steam engines on wheels that could be used to drive mechanical farm machinery by way of a flexible belt. History Traction engines 1882 Harrison Machine Works steam-powered traction engine In Canada and the US, the word may also refer to the road tractor portion of a tractor trailer truck, but also usually refers to the piece of farm equipment. In the UK, Ireland, Australia, India, Spain, Argentina, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Germany, the word "tractor" usually means "farm tractor", and the use of the word "tractor" to mean other types of vehicles is familiar to the vehicle trade, but unfamiliar to much of the general public. The first recorded use of the word meaning "an engine or vehicle for pulling wagons or plows" occurred in 1896, from the earlier term " traction motor" (1859). The word tractor was taken from Latin, being the agent noun of trahere "to pull". Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanised.Ī modern Ukrainian tractor XTZ-243K This Hayes WHDX 70-170 6×6 ballast tractor is also a form of tractor, as are artillery tractors and the power units which pull semi-trucks Agricultural tractors per 100 square kilometres of arable land Etymology Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially (and originally) tillage, and now many more. The Ford N-series tractor helped revolutionize modern mechanized agriculture with its Ferguson three point hitchĪ tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. For other uses, see Tractor (disambiguation). For other specific forms tractors take, see Tractor unit. This article is about the vehicle used in agriculture or construction.
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