A Brief History of the Tractor

It might not seem like it, but tractors actually haven’t been around for very long. In fact, the tractor we know and love today has been around for scarcely a century! You may be wondering how tractors were developed and what led to them becoming so commonplace on farms and ranches around the world.

Steam Engine Plows

Before gasoline engines were invented, steam engines were developed in the latter part of the 19th century. As a result, people tried to create steam-powered plowing machines that could help them cultivate their land more quickly. However, steam engines had the challenging drawback of blowing up out of nowhere, so they weren’t exactly the safest or most popular choice.

Gasoline Saves the Day

John Froelich, an Iowa inventor and farmer, saw the 1880s development of the gasoline engine as an opportunity. He created a plowing machine with a gasoline engine that was capable of going forwards and backwards, and he used it to harvest wheat.

Meanwhile, two engineering students named Charles Hart and Charles Parr were building their own “traction engine” and christening it a “tractor” up in Wisconsin. In 1901, the Hart-Parr Gasoline Engine Company released its very first commercially produced tractor to great results.

20th Century Popularity

Other manufacturers of agricultural equipment took note of the development of the tractor and began to produce their own, adding to the design and altering it as needed. Different types of tractors came onto the marketplace, and agricultural giants like John Deere and Mahindra became the world’s leading tractor producers by the middle of the 20th century. Today, you have your choice of dozens of different makes and models of tractor, and you can be grateful to those early inventors for making your farmwork easier!

Stop by our location in Athens, GA, to view our current stock of new tractors for sale. We also offer trade-in values and financing options. A&H Sales & Service proudly serves the greater Atlanta, GA, metropolitan area.