The invention history and development trend of tractor

Invention process
Since ancient times, many people have tried to use mechanical power to replace human and animal power for farming. However, it was not until the 19th century when Europe entered the era of steam engine that the birth of powered agricultural machinery became possible.
Alabart of France and R. C. parvin of Illinois of the United States invented the steam powered tractor in 1856 and 1873 respectively.
In the 1930s, people began to study the use of steam vehicles to tow agricultural machinery for field operations. But the steam engine tractor (the predecessor of the steam tractor) that could be built at that time was like a small locomotive. Even if it did not sink in the field, it would press the soil very hard and could not be cultivated at all. In 1851, Farah and Smith * of England realized the mechanical farming of farmland with steam engine. Some people regarded this as the beginning of agricultural mechanization, but at that time, their method was to place the steam engine in the field and use steel wire rope to pull the plowshare ploughed in the field from a distance. Later, with the progress of steam engine manufacturing technology, a miniaturized steam engine appeared. It was installed on the chassis of the vehicle to drive the wheels, so that it could drive into the field from the ground to directly tow agricultural machinery, which was the birth of the tractor. The tractors at that time were very similar to the early steam engine cars, but they had higher horsepower and slower driving speed.
Zuchu tractors are bulky and expensive, inconvenient to use, and often need several people to operate. They are suitable for farming in vast fields, which is difficult for ordinary individual farmers to afford. In 1889, Chada engine company in Chicago, USA, manufactured the world's first agricultural tractor using gasoline internal combustion engine - "baga" tractor. Because the internal combustion engine is relatively light, easy to operate, and high efficiency, its emergence has laid a foundation for the promotion and application of tractors. At the beginning of the 20th century, Sweden, Germany, Hungary and Britain almost simultaneously produced tractors powered by diesel internal combustion engines. During the first World War, due to war, the shortage of labor and the rise in the price of agricultural products promoted the development of farmland tractors. From 1910 to 1920, there was a fierce competition between tractors powered by steam engines and internal combustion engines. The latter showed greater advantages and gradually eliminated the former. Today's tractors use diesel engines.
On November 24, 1904, the "77" steam tractor was tested and subsequently put into mass production. In 1906, the tractor manufacturing company founded by Holt produced the world's first crawler tractor powered by gasoline internal combustion engine. This tractor began mass production the following year. It was a successful tractor at that time, and became a sample vehicle for Britain to reference when developing the world's first tank a few years later.
In the development of wheeled tractors, at the beginning, people widened the steel wheels, increased the landing area and reduced the pressure, but the effect was not good. Later, they came up with a method of adding a rubber protective layer to the steel wheels. After the birth of automobile tires, people used solid and pneumatic tires for tractors. However, automobile tires are not completely suitable for tractors. First, the grooves of automobile tires are too shallow and thin. Second, people have found that the tractor has better driving performance on soft ground when the tire air is insufficient than when the tire air is very full. In 1932, the filsdan tire and rubber company of the United States produced a large-size high tread low-pressure pneumatic rubber tire. This is the first kind of tire that is really suitable for agricultural tractors. It greatly improves the driving and traction performance of wheeled tractors.
By the end of the 1940s, tractors had replaced livestock as the main driving force of farms in North America, Western Europe and Australia. Since then, tractors have been popularized in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.