The Evolution of the Tractor

At Cliff Jones Mahindra in Sealy, Texas, we’ve got answers to all your questions about Mahindra tractors and we can get you set up with the tractor that meets your needs. Curious about the history behind these ubiquitous farm machines? We’ve drawn up a brief introduction to the creation of tractors and the innovations that got us to where we are today.

19th Century Development

John Froelich, an inventor living in a tiny Iowa village named for his own father, developed the first gasoline-powered tractor in 1892. Prior to this, the steam-powered plowing engine had been in use since the late 1860s, but these machines were slow, hard to maneuver around obstacles, and created a fire hazard in grain fields. They were primarily used by the logging industry to haul wood. Once gasoline found its foothold as a source of power in the 1880s, a variety of traction engines using gas as fuel began to appear. Froelich’s tractor, a combination of these earlier ideas, was the first farm machine with forward and reverse gears. Froelich connected his tractor to a thresher during harvest in South Dakota and successfully threshed wheat.

Following the success of his creation, Froelich founded the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in Waterloo, Iowa, with the intent to manufacture gas-powered tractors for sale. However, despite his heavy investment in the enterprise, it failed within a few years and he sold the business to John Miller in 1895. Miller reorganized the company to focus on building gas-powered engines for a variety of uses.

20th Century Innovations

Eventually, in 1911, the Waterloo company put further research into tractors and began to manufacture them again. The models that eventually sold were kerosene-powered, despite the company’s name, but saw great success by the late 1910s. The most popular model sold was the Waterloo Boy.

While the Waterloo Company floundered, two students of mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Charles Parr and Charles Hart, developed the gasoline-powered engine idea. They founded the Hart-Parr Gasoline Engine Company in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1897, shifting production to Iowa at the turn of the century. They coined the term “tractor” from the original term “traction engine” and produced the very first successful American tractor in 1901.

In 1918, the Illinois-based farm equipment enterprise Deere & Company, then helmed by William Butterworth, bought out the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company. The grandson-in-law of company founder John Deere, Butterworth saw the potential of tractors and continued to produce the Waterloo Boy model until 1923, when the first John Deere Model D tractor was introduced.

During this era, other manufacturers developed their own tractor models as well. This allowed costs to drop, making tractors affordable for farmers, who could increase the productivity of their farms with the time and labor saved. Tractors became smaller and lighter, more efficient machines. Henry Ford manufactured a tractor called the Fordson that was in wide international use by the 1920s. This brand was made in England through 1964, although its American counterpart ceased production in 1928.

Other heavy manufacturers around the world began to build and market their own tractors during the mid-20th century, like Lamborghini in Italy and Mahindra in India. Both of these companies manufactured tractors starting in 1948 for domestic and international markets. While there are hundreds of tractor manufacturers around the world, Mahindra is the world’s highest-selling tractor manufacturer by volume as of 2010.

Types of Tractor

The two main categories of tractor are two-wheel and four-wheel tractors, which have either one or two axles, respectively. The first tractors were two-wheel drive. Most four-wheel tractors are rear two-wheel drive. Four-wheel drive tractors arrived in the 1960s, at which time most tractor manufacturers switched over to using diesel engines instead of gasoline or the less common kerosene as fuel.

Traditional tractors were open vehicles with large wheels in back and smaller wheels centered in the front beneath the engine and driver’s seat. More modern tractors have enclosed cabs as a safety feature, protecting the driver from falling out as well as debris and noise.

In places with wet soil, steel or rubber tracked tractors became commonplace in the 1930s, referred to as Caterpillar tracked tractors. These tractors have levers instead of a steering wheel to facilitate the maneuvering of each track separately via clutches. Continual improvements have meant that tractors are lighter, faster, and more efficient machines than their steam-powered ancestors, making them essential for a variety of industries, from farming to logging.

In the market for a new or used tractor or another piece of farm equipment? Come to our showroom just off I-10 west of Houston, and we’ll answer any questions you have about the right model of tractor for your needs. Cliff Jones Mahindra proudly serves the communities of Sealy, Victoria, and Columbus, Texas, as well as the greater Houston metropolitan area.