a hot field under the afternoon sky every spring the American farmer has faced this flat and far-reaching landscape with unbounded optimism since the first plow broke the soil horses mules and oxen turned over the first furrows but as the prairie grass gave way to vast tracts of cultivated acreage a better way was needed to plow and plant and harvest so we hunkered down and invented the tractor this is a story about the American farm tractor told with the actual antique machines that sewed and weep the harvest it's also a story about the men who collect and restore these machines about a craftsman who built his own and about some rare and special miniature tractor collections for the most part we're talking about working farmers and for farmers working the land around the turn of the century there was only one answer when it came to separating the crops from the chaff and that was steam power over seven tons of iron and steel driven by the power of steam under pressure this nickles and Shepard traction engine of 1917 is typical of the great land engines that worked America's farm lands for over 30 years the steam engine was first used to provide belt cower to stationary machines horses towed it to where the work was being done later the engines became self powered and were called steam traction engines criss-crossing the country's farms doing contract or custom work for the farmers Edie had I think two or three rings as they were called and the neighbors a farmers a band together and they'd form a fashion ring and they had possibly old six or eight bundle dragons they'd have four pitchers they'd probably have no two or three grain wagons and they would pull it our labor together and go around custom thrash each one's grain and I think at the time I'm not sure what his charge the last I remember was 3 cents throats 5 cents per week and 7 cents for I cranking along behind the steam traction engine was the threshing machine these clattering awkward-looking contraptions made of wood or tin over a steel structure were surprisingly efficient even by today's standards this restored thresher was made by ji case when the threshing machine was rolled into place on level ground horse-drawn wagons called hay racks brought loads of wheat barley oats or rye in from the field the machine was driven by a long leather belt slipped around the flywheel of the steam engine with a hay rack alongside the machines feeder two men pitched the bundles on the moving conveyor sharp claws helped tear apart the bundles as they were fed into the cylinder the cylinder was equipped with metal teeth called spikes or long bars called rasps that separated the grain and the chaff from the straw as the cylinder spun its momentum tossed the chaff and grain onto the straw Walker's that moved up and down shaking the grain through a series of sibs the chaff and straw was blown by a fan into a stack that threw out the back of the machine meanwhile the grain was carried up an elevator to a wire atop the thresher as grain filled the wire its weight trip to release and a measured portion dropped down to the auger chute where it was spewed out into a cart or a bagger a counter next to the wire kept track of each weighed measure everyone pitched in during threshing time as the machine was moved from farm to farm mechanizing farm operations changed the American farmer from being the source of power to being the director of power while the process of threshing remained the same petroleum-based fuels gradually replaced steam power the terms kerosene traction and gasoline traction were used to simplify everything shortly after the turn of the century the term tractor was coined this Aultman taylor tractor built in 1919 runs on kerosene the cheap fuel that was plentiful in rural America where kerosene lamps lit most of the homes and barns the engine had only one speed forward and reverse this Avery tractor was built in 1917 and required priming with gasoline to get it started it runs on kerosene the rest of the time gas has a higher volatility and ignites at the spark caused by the magneto from a spin of the flywheel weighing in at 7,500 pounds the Avery was lighter and more fuel efficient than the Altman Taylor and foretold the scaling down of tractor designs the engine had two cylinders opposed laid flat on the frame and cranking at 700 rpm its most advanced feature however was a primitive transmission that controlled forward and reverse at the heave of a lever the entire engine frame shifted from one year to another you but higher tractor is unique in that the frame the engine slides in the frame and you can change the speed this way and you have seven different speeds and it's a friction drive no transformation one side of the drum that you see there is a reverse and the other side is forward and you can just work out just like a shadow move the lever forward you go forward and move it back you're going backwards tractors gave three kinds of power power to the belt drive for running stationary machines such as threshers power to the drawbar we're drawn implements like plows were attached for towing and power to the road for moving from place to place this Hyder 1220 offers 12 horsepower at the drawbar for towing implements and 20 horsepower at the belt for operating machines in the field eka took 8 horsepower just to move itself a unique tractor development emerged as the larger plowing and belt machines continued to evolve and that was the motor cultivator while the large steam and kerosene tractors continued to ply their trade these smaller motor cultivators were designed like the old horse plows powerplant well forward representing the horses and the farmer seated in a sulky seat well to the rear numerous cultivation implements would be slung beneath much like this single bottom plow on the allis-chalmers 612 some loaded cultivators even steered with reins just like old oven while the machine replaced some horse flesh with horse power the idea never became a big seller because most farmers with average-sized farms could not afford both a plowing and belt tractor and a motive cultivator regardless of how close it the nostalgic forced flow during the years 1917 and 1918 what with the wartime demands on our agriculture farmers were looking for an efficient affordable small tractor that could pull its own weight scaling down in size from the large ploughing and belt tractor of the pre-war period the 1917 Hart par appeared with a two cylinder water-cooled engine a friction drive and two speed transmission this design helped establish the basic layout for the machines that would follow after the Hart par other manufacturers designs wouldn't fall far from that tree ask any hard part R actor historian and he'll say that machine started the tractor industry in the United States Henry Ford's 1918 Fordson became the first mass-produced tractor the tractor for every man it was cheap at 875 dollars complete with an Oliver number seven chilled steel plow and since it had no heavy frame it was light weighing only 2,700 pounds the Fordson was underpowered compared to most machines of the period but offered a workable 10 horsepower at the drawbar and gave out 20 horsepower on the belt drive in 1920 the Ford assembly line produced 67,000 actually it was so lightweight flat shoes seen here on the rear fenders were provided to keep it from tipping over backward under a heavy load an all too common problem that put a lot of farmers in the hospital and worse by 1918 the John Deere Waterloo boy had made its appearance it tipped the scales at 6,000 183 pounds and pulled with an honest 12 horsepower it offered 25 horsepower at the belt at first it didn't sell very well only about 5,000 in 1918 but the boy caught on as proved by this 1922 model owned by J bunnell from this design acquired when dear bought the Waterloo gasoline engine company John Deere began a long line of evolving two cylinder tractors a tractor price war in 1920 saw the cost of a Fordson dropped to $395 other tractor builders slashed their prices and many went under during the later 1920s and through the 30s the standard tractor with its steel cleated wheels and multi cylinder engines evolved as designers experimented these new machines were essentially unstyled tractors their operating parts the engine steering mechanism cooling radiator and controls were arranged on a frame in the most practical straightforward way by the late 1930s tractor designers had labored hard to incorporate new innovations besides wide set front wheels a farmer could get narrow set front wheels called a tricycle row crop to fit between two rows engines ran on gasoline for better efficiency electric lights and ignition systems had been improved and water cooling standardized by 1932 thanks to allis-chalmers tractors began running on rubber tires instead of the teeth jolting cleated steel the battery start had replaced the hand crank and flywheel mechanical power lifts were fitted to raise implements clear of the ground for transport without having to move levers by hand while running over bumpy ground dangerous proposition but for all the mechanical innovation the unstyled tractors still hung on to a clunky hammered together appearance an extra touch was needed to pedal more tractors and that was styled styling was everywhere folks love the smooth sleek lines john deere was second to international harvester in sales the two cylinder tractors with their distinctive hopping exhaust sound earning the nickname johnny poppers or poppin johnny's depending on where he hailed from had earned their Spurs since the 1918 waterloo boy to give their tractors a market edge they hired the famous industrial designer henry dreyfuss his charge was to help us make our tractors more saleable and that he did new sheetmetal work and a new front end design added the beauty touches realigning the front stacks improved visibility the steering shaft was enclosed a wider seat was designed to relieve fatigue the engineers hunted around until they found a guy in the plant with the biggest behind had him sit in plaster from that mold every John Deere seat was built styling touches added safety as well as good looks the new styled a and B models were introduced in 1939 from the closing of the 1930s the sky was the limit for tractor design as designs changed so did the fuels that ran the tractors around the turn of the century steam was king steam powered locomotives on Rails and at powered traction engines across the farms of America all you needed was water something to make a fire and the boiler to make the steam that drove the Pistons and powered the long leather belt traction engines were huge weighing up to 10 tons and needed much of their power just a lumber across the fields and bad roads to the workplace while locomotives of that time burned anthracite coal traction engines often burned what was at hand coal wood and even straw while the railroad spent time to find good water for locomotives that was lime and alkali free farm engines often pump their water from a pond or ditch operating a steamer required skill and a thorough knowledge of steam pressures and power transfer from the Pistons to the wheels or the belt a good traction engine operator in rural America was as revered as any locomotive engineer petroleum-based fuels and internal combustion motors allowed the traction engines to lighten up but added some cost to the process since the farmer had to buy the more expensive fuel rather than chop wood or recycle straw as we said before kerosene was the fuel of choice since it was needed for lamps and could be stored because of its low volatility kerosene tractors had to be timed and started with gasoline because that few will vaporize more quickly for better ignition from the hand crank magneto once they were warmed up the kerosene was fed the engine for working power as petroleum companies refine their gasoline making process and the price came down gas became the popular fuel it burned more efficiently than kerosene and a lot of designers to build smaller more powerful engines when World War 2 forced gas rationing farmers asked the government if they could distill their own fuel from their crops the government saw alcohol stills popping up all across the country and said no the idea never went away however and eventually became the catalyst or ethanol made from corn that runs in our tanks today by 1944 diesel engines were becoming popular they burned almost anything from furnace oil to hair tonic ran well required little maintenance and were mechanically efficient the Oliver corporation was the first manufacturer to put a diesel engine in a tractor their sales took off and soon almost all large tractors had diesel engine as one farmer said well they were good and the help can't siphon off the tank for their own automobiles commercial propane fuel showed up in the early 1950s it burned clean and equaled gas tractor performance propane had become a popular heating fuel on farms so it was readily available propane tractors could always be spotted by the bulbous tank that straddled the upper frame as you can see getting the tractor to the field has been as much of a challenge as what to do with it when you got it there throughout the design life of the American tractor special designs were created for special jobs some were experiments that kind of went nowhere like this 1914 allis-chalmers three wheeler their advertising department said this tractor was a joy for the boy if you can believe that others were built to fill a need like a pocket version for a smaller farm exit the case 22:40 and here's the case 1018 orchard tractors had extra sheetmetal to keep branches out of the wheels high crop designs worked over taller and taller crops any higher you'd get a nosebleed they were used on battlefields after being painted olive drab and dropped by parachute secured by special rings welded in place when the call went out for a military general purpose vehicle tractor manufacturer Minneapolis Moline submitted this experiment underpowered and overweight it was beat out by the willys-overland Jeep the US Navy's saw some use and all that low-end torque to tow aircraft around landing fields with its tractor like pulling muscle it could also towed the hangar a few designs were painted safety yellow and adapted to industry like this little Oliver used for highway maintenance and still others were built for a very special purpose such as this allis-chalmers Model G with a rear engine built in 1948 it was mostly used by vegetable farmers look familiar yep our old friend the motor cultivator but backwards this idea sort of scaled down and eventually became today's garden roto tiller some older farm tractors have been adapted to more domestic use like this lineup of exotic and very heavy-duty lawn mowers all the tractors we've used to offer this glimpse into the history of agricultural horsepower have been collected by farmers who still work the land each has his own reason for choosing a particular manufacturer a particular era or even engine design like Maury horns collection of Pop and Johnny two-cylinder John Deere's that's a sound that catches everyone's attention almost everyone that is oh don't go away mad well anyway these collections reflect the diversity of tractor technology and the appeal of the machines to farmers who in most cases must be their own mechanics when it's time to plant and harvest one thing is certainly true a collection doesn't have to be big to be special Gimli burs McCormick Dearing ended the era of heavy tractors for International Harvester back in 1921 it has a one-piece iron frame and unit construction for ease of service this was a plowing and belt tractor that was offered as the 15:30 but later on in 1929 it received a bigger engine and became the 22:36 this was the first tractor to offer the power take-off shaft from the engine to operate towed implements trailing behind it is the ingenious little genius plow this International Harvester plow was designed for the average farm and featured a unique chain lift that could be cranked up from the driver's seat real innovation in those dangerous days of walking the plow to manually raise it over obstructions or at the end of a row that plow design lasted into the modern tractor era and could be found behind the tractor that changed just about everything the International Harvester formal introduced in 1924 the unstyled farm all was the first tractor to offer everything a farmer needed plowing belt work and cultivating with 15 different implement designs for use with virtually any crop farm all first of all it you could use it for row crops you could calibrate with the farm law and f30 was a big brother to the F xx it could pull three bottom and just do for larger farm but it was just an all-round tractor and whereas the McCormick Deering it was strictly a plow tractor stationary tractor things like that but this the farm all really started the tractor era really the early farm all designed developed into a family of international harvester tractors these belong to Clyde Berkshire of Royal Center Indiana and International Harvester dealer for 37 years he collects anything having to do with International Harvester his farm all collection reflects a progression from unstyled to styled models all in fully restored condition fully restored means the tractor has been reconditioned and painted to resemble as much as possible its appearance and operation when brand new this requires months of hard work scraping sanding painting machining and hunting up original parts bill gamble of Wilshire Ohio has assembled this lineup of styled Oliver tractors all in restored condition ranging from the model 60 of 1945 to the heavy-duty model 99 introduced in 1953 bill started out collecting on was by accident or as he tells it well I guess the way I got into collecting tractors was I had a friend that collected cars and he'd spend a lot of time getting them real pollster and one thing another and I thought uh collecting tractors would be easier and a little more maybe along the line of what I'd like to do and the reason I got started on Oliver's when I was a kid I learned to drive a 1936 Oliver Hart par seven-day and I have that tractor but it's unrestored as yet collectors are a fussy breed a case man wouldn't be caught dead sitting on a John Deere unless he lost a bet this case BAC is painted flambo red color patented by case in 1939 it marked a departure from the utilitarian gray enamel and also a big step forward for case designs they tended to stand out in a field all right junior Geiger of Lebanon Indiana has put together a representative collection of fully restored case tractors showing many variations on the theme from the 1930s to the 1960s Junior's son Jay keeps up the tradition working with that big air-conditioned closed cab case Magnum that started the program now Ernie why cert here is sitting on top of the world astride his Minneapolis Moline high crop he's retired and his two sons Mark and Steve farmed the place Ernie and his wife Joanne have time to enjoy the social side of tractor collecting attending shows and pressure man's reunions across the Midwest helping keep the tradition of Minneapolis Moline tractors alive and well these massively built machines enjoyed a reputation for power and dependability that sir today the model to you was one of the larger tractors of its time it was just about the first tractor to burn propane it could haul a three or four bottom plow and was built until 1955 these other mini mows in there prairie gold color schemes are all working tractors on Ernie's farm the man watching his plow here is Tom grabber s'en who helped us put this show together he's aboard his case from the 1940s as befits a true case man this model D H is rare as hen's teeth case only built 82 of them Tom's tractors are scattered through this program we do have footage of Tom driving at John Deere but we promise not to show it he's towing his rare case D 70 disc plow from 1937 now that is a to bottom plow farmers identify a plow by the number of implements or bottoms doing the work we'll see more of that and is other implements later on when we look at what tractors actually do out there in the field the allis-chalmers bloodline dates back to the turn of the century and includes both our old friend the horseless 6-12 motor cultivator of 1917 and also the heritage of the brawny rum lead 6 of 1930 their evolution led to the famous D series that turn the soil during the late 1950s and through the 1960s this collection of DS has been preserved in original condition by Norman Steinman of bourbon Indiana some collectors prefer to maintain the original paint tires and engine parts like any fine old antique instead of repainting them the most unique part of Norma's collection isn't a tractor but is an ungainly looking box of a machine that sounded the death knell to the binder and the threshing machine a product that grew up in the newly acquired Rumley plant in LaPorte Indiana and came to be called the all crop combine it was introduced in 1938 and was an immediate hit made of pressed steel sheets held together with spot welds the lightweight combine could be pulled by an average-sized tractor and could be used on the owners farm and to do custom work at his neighbor's farms for $3 cash money and acre Walt brew sure of former allis-chalmers salesmen once wrote it was said at the time that the all crop harvester built more fences painted more bonds redesigned more kitchens than any other farm machine ever all from the profits earned by this little machine as norm Steinman demonstrates the all crop attached to the tractors power take-off shaft when drawn by the tractor the combine cuts a swath of grain onto the feeder and Thresh's the kernels from the chaff it was originally designed to Thresh oats wheat barley and rye but experimentation showed it could separate crops as Tiny as clover seed eventually a book was compiled that listed over 100 crops that could be threshed with the all crop by 1949 over 170 6,000 of these machines had been built whether they are very rare or have a unique beauty or have a particular sound or they help keep alive a tradition or maybe they change the history of farming these fine examples of American agricultural technology have a constant appeal for the farmer collector up to this point we've looked at almost every type of tractor Under the Sun but not everyone watching this program knows what these machines actually do out there in the field to close this gap in agricultural knowledge we're going to use some antique tractors and implements to turn over and plant a patch of prime acreage on Ernie why certs file now this hardware is some 40 years old or more but the process hasn't changed much down through the years come on Tom time to get to work to start with the ground has to be broken and tilled with a plough this case d70 disc plow throws a fine luster tale of rich dirt it is a rare type with 226 inch discs used mainly out west over harder and Stonier ground that we have here and with a lot less moisture than you find in Indiana and May that model D H by the way was one of the first series of styled tractors ever built by case back in 1940 she could burn kerosene or gas you can see how hard Tom is working imagine plowing up a few hundred acres with this rig under a hot Sun once the ground was turned over and plowed into furrows it had to be worked down or worked up with your thumb out that was the job for this case model our power control disc harrow its behind Tom the D H the implement is equipped with 18 inch discs spaced at 7 inches on each axle the disc harrow is designed to cut the soil and mix it the angle of these discs is controlled by a lever to set the proper depth once set the disc harrow can be angled or straightened by a clutch operated by a rope or chain from the driver's seat this method sort of predated the later powerlift built into more modern tractors the final step before planting makes use of an International Harvester 3 section spring to ther o after plowing and disking the furrows are still too rough proceeding it's the job of the Harrow hooked up behind Ernie on his mini mo model are to level the soil in preparation to laying down the seed bed usually it was pulled at a slight angle across the field smoothing the soil so the farmer could see his mark at the end of the row in order to turn accurately and plant the next row the planting step is where we take a small departure in order to show a device that took the drudgery out of hand planting corn the check row planter Ernie has his early 1940s version mounted behind his Minneapolis Moline model Z the first tractor he ever owned first field hands in this case Ernie and his dad dock whyzard lay out a steel wire about 1/4 inch thick linked together in sections the planter has a guide built into it through which passes this wire as each link in the wire passes through the guide it trips a lever that works a can which in turn drops from 2 to 5 corn seeds into the ground when the farmer arrived at the end of the row he raised the platter with a lever next to his seat turned the tractor found his mark for the front wheels made in the soil by the extended row marker reconnected the wire and came back down the next row this seems slow and painstaking but the design dates back to horse plough days and was a considerable jump up with making a hole dropping the seed covering the hole and moving on now we move out of the field to meet a unique individual who built his own tractor Burnie isert is a bonafide jack-of-all-trades have just happens to like building half-size replicas of steam traction engines this is an exactly proportioned model of a case 110 horsepower steamer he built from the ground up boiler Pistons wheels and spokes he did it all in one year's time he also farms built his home and the sheds that hold his eclectic tractor collection and in spare time he cuts his own wood both on a full-sized sawmill and this half sized mill powered by a 65 horsepower steam engine which he also built from scratch Bernie's wife Mary Jane is his partner she works with him in the sawmill she farms with him and manages a farm sized vegetable garden from which she puts up preserved goods for the winter this sixty five horsepower case runs the sawmill just like the full-size version back near the turn of the century and requires the same tender loving care he loads coal into the firebox constantly checks the valves and steam pressure keeping his eye on the spinning governor safety valve spout off showing there's plenty of eat in the firebox and steam and the boiler to keep the mill working Bernie is a craftsman and knows his way around a farm and a machine shop he's one of a breed that sets up challenges for his skills just for the pleasure of accomplishment taking a step even further back in time this scene was a common sight across rural America in the 19th century which a look at that Belgian and Percheron horses hitched three abreast pulling a sulky plow through the rich Indiana soil it's early evening and the setting sun's last Ray's streamed through the trees highlighting the freshly turned ground this is the way it was done before farmers harnessed steam and the internal combustion engine and stepped from the soft jingle of the harness and squeak of the wheels into the roar and clatter of our industrial 20th century Jeff Schwartzel and his grandson Nathan Spann a generation that dawned when tractor farming was already middle aged although they farm with tractors today they are working up the ground with horses celebrating the heritage of farm life and bygone days behind them is Jeff's brother dawn plowing with Ann Emerson one bottom plow Jeff's plow is a John Deere big improvements back then over the walkin plow your view of the world however was somewhat depressing over the long hours of the day each year they set aside this 35-acre patch to work their horses and re-establish their connection to the land two generations of farmers taking us back a hundred years preserving a touch with the farming past isn't restricted to farmers who work the land there is a way to collect tractors without having a farm and sheds to store them this is the world of the toy tractor collector built to exact scale these models reflect the step-by-step changes in Agriculture's mechanical evolution the collection belongs to Jerry Jones a landscape contractor from Winamac Indiana Jerry strongly favors the John Deere but is eclectic enough to include everything from construction equipment and model cars to International Harvester Farr malls and Minneapolis moline's some of the models are very rare dating back to the days when the real tractors were built jerry is more than a collector he has built some of these models from scratch machining parts from blocks of aluminum sheets of plastic and lengths of brass wire you you one other area where Jerry's collection really shines is animation this four-wheel drive case model 1200 traction King and it's set of discs looks like it could drive out of the picture here's an animated planter that operates exactly like the full-size version Jerry uses actual oil operated hydraulics buried in the tabletop for these scenes this authentic baler model is powered by a hidden battery Jerry is one of thousands of tractor collectors across the country displaying models that are both valued antiques and scratch-built examples of the model builders art there are of course looking at miniatures and working miniatures this little red tractor oh sorry this little Flambeau tractor has a counterpart that works in the field but the short versions designed to be operated by a little farmer to be pedal tractors are the big wheels of the farm kids the first pedal tractor was carved out of wood in the basement of Harold Heller of Dubuque Iowa in 1947 when Heller finished his model he took it to John Deere and to International Harvester and this great promotional idea was born Heller formed a company called track toy which merged with the Eska company of Dubuque Iowa from 1949 to 1960s Cavill pedal tractors for John Deere International Harvester case Massey Harris Ford Oliver and allis-chalmers in 1960 the earth will company of Dyersville Iowa took over production some are still made today these pedal tractors are part of the collection belonging to norm Steinman and the assembled group seen here including this very rare crawler and the extremely rare mounted corn picker are worth thousands of dollars this red one with the little trailer norm built himself for his granddaughter from busted parts it's his favorite they represent one more way that traditions of the American farmer are passed on to the next generation so there you have it a look at part of the history of the tractor and today's tractor culture told through the collections of working farmers a skilled craftsman who builds his own the toy collection and pedal tractors of the next generation from the horse-drawn plows of the 19th century the giant steam traction engines at the turn of that century on down to the mechanical innovations that have helped America feed the world we've walked a pretty big field we have to thank these men and they're very supportive and patiently understanding wives for the chance to see what it was really like growing up plowing the land for a hundred years of agricultural history you you if we still have to ask why they spend their efforts in this constant search for their corner of the historical record bernie i xored the steam engine builder said it best I guess the most important reason why I got into steam was for the preservation of a Lost Ark something that a generation or two down the road nobody will understand unless there's a few of us that can keep this thing at going
This is a great documentary explaining some notable evolutions in the history of the farm tractors.
If anybody happens to know where I could purchase this I would be grateful.
Enjoy! It's pretty good!
I've only watched 10 minutes so far, but this is a super interesting video.
Well shoot, I'm sad it's over.