Earliest Tractor Manufacturers Revealed
The first tractor manufacturers were spread across different countries and time periods.
Here is a list of some of the earliest tractor manufacturers:
John Charter: The first tractor for which records survive was built in 1889 by the Charter Gas Engine Co, owned by John Charter. His first design used the wheels and transmission from a steam traction engine, powered by a single-cylinder Otto petrol engine.
John Froelich: In 1892, John Froelich created the first successful gasoline engine that could maneuver forwards and backwards, which was the most rudimentary functions of modern engines. It had yet to be named the tractor.
Charles W. Hart and Charles H. Parr: In 1903, they built the first commercially successful "tractor" using a two-cylinder gasoline engine, weighing in at 14,000 pounds. Their tractor is the oldest surviving internal combustion engine tractor in the United States and is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C..
Dan Albone: In 1901, Dan Albone, a British inventor, built the first commercially successful light-weight petrol-powered general-purpose tractor. He called his machine the Ivel Agricultural Motor, and the word "tractor" came into common use after Hart-Parr created it.
Henry Ford: In 1907, Henry Ford produced his first experimental gas-powered tractor, which was referred to as an "automobile plow." After 1910, gasoline-powered tractors were used almost exclusively in farming with over 100 manufacturers selling them, but total sales were small. Ford and International Harvester were edging out the competition by mass-producing cheaper, light-weight, and more versatile tractors and competing in price wars.
Deere and Company: In 1918, Deere and Company began manufacturing tractors, and by 1923, 75% of all tractors sold in the United States were John Deere tractors.
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