Table Of ContentTHE
TRACTOR
BOOK
THE DEFINITIVE
VISUAL HISTORY
N 4 5 0 OF THE WO
A R
H L
ORE T GARLELA-TTIEMSETD ’S BE
• FMRATNRDA LCATTOERSST GSET R •
O N
M THE IVEL TO THE C H ALLE
THE
TRACTOR
BOOK
THE
TRACTOR
BOOK
THE DEFINITIVE
VISUAL HISTORY
Contents
DORLING KINDERSLEY
Senior Editor Jemima Dunne
Senior Art Editor Sharon Spencer
Editors Sam Kennedy, Miezan van Zyl
Design Assistance Renata Latipova
Photographer Gary Ombler
Picture Research Nic Dean
DK Picture Library Claire Bowers, Claire Cordier, Romaine Werblow
Introduction: The Tractor Revolution 8
Jacket Designer Mark Cavanagh
Jacket Assistant Claire Gell
Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT 1900–1920: THE EARLY YEARS
Producer, Pre-Production Adam Stoneham
Producer Linda Dare Pioneers began developing agricultural motors in the late
Managing Editor Esther Ripley
nineteenth century. Later, vast prairie giants ruled the
Managing Art Editor Karen Self
North American plains while smaller “agrimotors” began
Art Director Phil Ormerod
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler to replace the horse in Europe. World War I convinced the
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf
initially skeptical farming community of the tractor’s utility.
DK INDIA
Senior Editor Sreshtha Bhattacharya Early Power 14
Senior Art Editor Anjana Nair
Great Manufacturers: Ivel Agricultural Motors 16
Project Editor Suparna Sengupta
Art Editors Namita, Pallavi Narain Pioneer Machines 18
Managing Editor Pakshalika Jayaprakash Profile: Hornsby-Akroyd 20
Managing Art Editor Arunesh Talapatra
Prairie Heavyweights 22
Production Manager Pankaj Sharma
Pre-production Manager Balwant Singh Prairie Tractor Boom and Bust 24
Senior DTP Designer Sachin Singh The British Pioneers 26
DTP Designers Vishal Bhatia, Nand Kishor Acharya,
Mohammad Usman The Age of Experiment 28
Picture Researcher Aditya Katyal Alternative Power Sources 30
Picture Research Manager Taiyaba Khatoon
The US Army’s Artillery Tractor 32
Contributors Stuart Gibbard, Simon Henley, Peter Longfoot,
Beating the U-boat 34
Steve Mitchell, Michael Williams, David Williams, Martin Rickatson
Profile: Holt 75 Gun Tractor 36
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited, Women at the Wheel 38
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
Tractor Development 40
A Penguin Random House Company
Early Tracked Machines 42
Copyright © 2015 Dorling Kindersley Limited
Great Manufacturers: John Deere 44
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
001 – 274736 – May/15
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record for this
book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2410-1482-0
Printed and bound by Leo Paper Products Ltd., China
A WORLD OF IDEAS:
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
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1921–1938: COMING OF AGE
Production rates soared but there was little evolution in
Despite worldwide economic depression, this was an era of design over the course of the war. The food shortages of
invention, in which Henry Ford pioneered new methods of the post-war years stimulated a boom in the industry and
construction and Harry Ferguson’s three-point linkage and new ranges of styled tractors began to appear in the US.
hydraulic lift revolutionized tractor design.
Tractors with Styling 84
US Consolidation 50 Profile: MM UDLX 86
Great Manufacturers: International Harvester 52 US Crawlers Move On 88
Britain Between the Wars 54 Lightweight Tractor Power 90
Profile: Ferguson Type A 56 Mobilizing the Women’s Land Army 92
European Expansion 58 Military Might 94
Great Manufacturers: Lanz 60 Profile: Roadless Half-Track 96
World Tractor Trials 62 Post-war Variations 98
North American Rowcrops 64 Germany Engineering 100
Profile: Massey-Harris GP 66 Great Manufacturers: Ferguson 102
General Purpose 68 The UK’s Golden Age 104
Profile: Fowler Gyrotiller 70 Great Manufacturers: Fordson 106
Crawler Market Grows 72 Specials and Conversions 108
Aircraft-towing Tractors 74 Tracks in the UK 110
The First Diesels 76 War Agricultural Executive Committees 112
Great Manufacturers: Caterpillar 78
1952–1964: GOLDEN AGE
1939–1951: WAR AND PEACE
A parade of new models with improved features was
World War II sparked a massive demand for tractors introduced as new manufacturers entered the market and
to perform a military and not just agricultural role. farms became increasingly mechanized. With post-war
shortages resolved, farmers demanded more and more meant larger and more reliable machines but as efficiency
from their machines and their dealerships. The race for rose, fewer tractors were needed and sales started to fall.
higher power and greater productivity had begun.
Progress in the US 152
North American Developments 118 Great Manufacturers: Case 154
British Diesel Takes Supremacy 120 British Progress 156
Profile: Renault N73 Junior 122 Driver Protection 158
Changing Markets 124 Great Manufacturers: Fiat 160
Germany Moves On 126 Europe’s Industry 162
Profile: Lanz Bulldog 128 Global Expansion 164
Tracks Across Antarctica 130 Profile: Northrop 5004T 166
Crawlers Around the World 132 All-wheel Drive 168
Straddling Crops 134 High Horsepower 170
Smaller Tractors for Special Tasks 136 World’s Biggest Tractor 172
Great Manufacturers: David Brown 138 Steel-track Sunset 174
Greater Horsepower, More Cylinders 140
Profile: Doe Triple-D 142 1981–2000: THE NEW
Increasing Power 144 TECHNOLOGY
Amphibious Tractor 146
High-speed tractors, powershift transmissions, and
computerized controls defined a period of technological
1965–1980: THE NEW
advancement. In the face of difficult economic realities,
GENERATION
manufacturers consolidated into global corporations.
Tractor manufacturers began to aim at markets around
The Big Three 180
the globe. A greater focus on operator comfort saw the
Great Manufacturers: Massey Ferguson 182
introduction of safety and quiet cabs. Demand for power
Reinventing the Plough 184 Preparing for the Coldest Journey 224
North American Power 186 Power for Other Purposes 226
Bold Designs, Tough Times 188 Economic and Social Progress 228
Great Manufacturers: Ford 190 World Farming 230
Continental Developments 192 Great Manufacturers: New Holland 232
Around the World 194 Out of the Ordinary 234
Rubber Tracks Arrive 196 Great Manufacturers: AGCO 236
Profile: Case IH Quadtrac 198 Robots Ready to Take Over 238
Big Wheelers 200
Profile: JCB Fastrac 202 HOW TRACTORS WORK:
Multipurpose Machines 204 TRACTOR TECHNOLOGY
Tractors are exceptionally complex machines, set apart
AFTER 2000: 21ST CENTURY
by their extraordinary hydraulics and the power of their
Stringent emission standards and the demands of engines. This chapter explains the basics of tractor
modern agriculture have led to a greater focus on fuel engineering and provides an overview of the most
efficiency. Precision farming, aided by satellite technology, important historical evolutions and improvements.
ensures that tractors operate at the very highest levels.
Tractor Engines 242
Universal Workhorses 210 Wheels and Hydraulics 244
Profile: John Deere 6210R 212 Driving Technology 246
Power and Precision 214
Great Manufacturers: SAME Deutz-Fahr 216 GLOSSARY 248
For Fruits and Vines 218 INDEX/ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 250
Profile: AGCO Challenger 220
Ever Larger Machines 222
The Tractor Revolution
What is a tractor? According to the dictionary, it is a “wheeled when it comes to attributing the invention of the tractor,
or track-laying vehicle for using or pulling farm machinery”. matters are not so clear with several individuals or firms
But that is a rather simplistic explanation for what has become developing machines along different lines.
a very complicated machine with a multitude of applications.
Hart-Parr of Iowa, USA, did not invent the tractor, but it was
Agriculture is the world’s oldest and largest industry, and is one of the first concerns in North America to produce them on a
today a hugely commercial activity – a global business of epic commercial scale. Rather contentiously, Hart-Parr always
proportions. The population of the world needs feeding, and claimed to have invented the term tractor, but there is scant
the tractor is the primary tool that makes that possible. evidence to support this. It did coin the term at a time when
Along with plant breeding and chemical pesticides – both other US manufacturers were referring to their products as
controversial if undoubtedly important breakthroughs – tractors “gasoline traction engines” and the UK firms were advertising
have been recognized as one of the three factors that had the their wares as “agricultural motors”, but it all depends on how
greatest influence on farming during the 20th century. you define a tractor.
The modern tractor is a highly sophisticated beast incorporating Was French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot’s tracteur à vapeur
the latest electronics, computers, data communications, and of 1769 a tractor in the proper sense of the word when it was
satellite guidance systems. The engines have been finely designed to pull cannons? The English word tractor is derived
engineered to deliver maximum output on minimum fuel while from the Latin tractus meaning to pull, and it seems to have
also meeting the latest emission regulations. A transmission is been applied to any pulling machine before it was accepted
no longer a simple box of cogs, but can be semi-automatic or into general usage as a term for an agricultural prime-mover.
constantly variable with infinite speed adjustment. The UK steam manufacturers used the word “tractor” to
describe an engine for pulling or hauling for many decades
Powerful hydraulic systems are optimized for efficiency; before Hart-Parr ever thought of the idea.
while the latest cabs are not just a workplace, but a luxurious
environment with ergonomic seating and controls. However, So although we cannot accurately pinpoint the true origins
the ongoing revolution in automation and computerization of the tractor, we can describe its early impact on agriculture.
is a far cry from the original conception of a tractor. Both the UK and the USA had an established, if not exactly
thriving, tractor industry by the formative years of the 20th
The tractor was a product of the age of invention as the century. In North America, the arrival of power farming
growing industrialization of the late 1800s led to a new dawn coincided with the age of settlement, and the industry
of discovery. During this period, Thomas Edison gave us electric grew rapidly to meet the demand for machines to break
light and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone; but the prairies and plains.
