Down on the Farm
A Brief History of Tractors - Part I
AS WE ALL KNOW, when there is a war situation, machinery and associated technology often make tremendous strides forward in development; aircraft, ships, weaponry and even the humble farm tractor to name but a few. The first three seem obvious as priorities, but the tractor?
There had been a few "mechanical horses" before the First World War and there was also quite widespread use of the traction engine, but the onset of the war changed this dramatically.
The prime mover in 1914 was the horse. It was used on farms, in towns, for everyday life. However, the war effort needed horses by the thousand and the obvious way to source them was to take them from the farms. This presented the farming community with a huge problem as to how to replace this loss.
Most of the mechanical horses had previously been imported from the USA, but with war thrust upon the country the necessity for the development of the tractor to pick up speed was realised and achieved.
Without naming "makes" of tractor the general layout and construction was broadly similar. It consisted on an engine, which would run on either petrol or paraffin, or in some cases both; a gearbox of some description was bolted on which drove two large steel wheels and a seat, also made of steel, was bolted on to the back for the driver to sit on.
In those early days there was no protection from any of the tractor's moving parts or the weather, but it must have been easier than walking behind a horse all day! All the implements used behind tractors in those days were simply pulled, advanced developments were yet to come.
As tractors became more powerful and developed technically in the period leading up to the Second World War, steel wheels gave way to rubber tyres and the general operation of the machine became more "user-friendly". Implements used with the tractors also developed. Ploughs became more complex, which allowed fewer men to achieve more and helped increase crop yields to feed a growing population. Other important developments were to follow in the years to come, which you can read about in Part Two.
Many of these old tractors can still be seen most weekend over the winter months at ploughing matches, where the vintage classes often out number the those with the more modern machines. There will be a good chance to see them up close locally on the 9th and 10th October as the National Ploughing Championship is being held at Soham this year.
Here on the farm, at the time of writing, harvest is about to start any day, so I'm hoping for a good run with the machinery and the weather. So please, if you get stuck behind a tractor and trailer on its way to or from the grain store, or have to wait for a combine harvester as it is moved from one field to another, do be patient (thank you) - a very important part of the farming year is happening in front of you!!