The INSANE Invention of The Tractor | The History and Evolution

There’s no more important piece of farm equipment than the humble tractor.
Between their durable reliability and massive power, they’ve become the standard for how work is done in agricultural operations.
It can be hard to think there was a time when the hardest work of farming was done with manual labor, but the tractor was invented just over a hundred years ago, and the story surrounding it is now farming history!
In today’s video, we are going to talk about the incredible history of tractors.

[@Titan604]

Ferguson made the most significant development of the modern tractor - the three point linkage for attaching implements which ever since has been the universal system, and yet this does not get a mention - in fact anything Ferguson related seems to be conspicuous by it's absence...

[@GHuggins]

Yeah this almost seems Deere funded. Massey actually pioneered a lot of things in the tractor industry and even had power shuttles back in the 60's available on their industry models even on the 135's. Without the 3 point hitch there wouldn't be a tractor...

[@jerryw4471]

Remember the Ford Ferguson tractor!

[@brianlubeck4184]

One also needs to remember another guy named James Cockshut. He developed the fully independent live power takeoff. Before that PTO shafts quit every time you pushed the clutch in.

[@robertbradley5333]

Neither does Oliver which was way ahead of it time!

[@michaelowens6572]

My first tractor in '72 was a TO20 Ferguson.

[@jerryw4471]

I saw farming go from horses to tractors. Lots of horses were destroyed when the tractors come along. My father bought his first tractor in 1949 which was a Ford. He owned a slow work horse F20 Farmall tractor too. The F20 and F30 go back to the early 1940's. They lasted forever! Some of the early John Deere were too light in the front end. I saw a bad accident back in 1948 when one flipped straight up in the air while my neighbor was going up a small bank. He did not survive the accident because the steering wheel caught him.

[@VenerableBede2510]

I shut it off in the first half minute when it claimed that “scientists” were involved. A bunch of dorks with college degrees in lab coats werw not responsible for the development of useful tractors

[@northdakotaham1752]

Farmers looking for a better way to save time and money built most of the prototype tractors. I see many of them every year at our local steam show.

[@generationll]

Neil Dahlstrom wrote a book called Tractor Wars that details the developement of the tractor.There is no mention of Cyrus McCormick,Alexander Legge,International Harvester & the developement of the Farmall tractor in 1923

[@freewillfarms2059]

PBS of Iowa just did a program with the same name and it was very good. KZbin...

[@robertpayne2717]

In the 1970's and 80's Massey Ferguson was the world wide leading producer of tractors From compact, utility and large tractors. Till they were aquired by AgCo

[@arvbergstedt3303]

Massey Ferguson blew it. Got into furniture and other business while JD spent at least 10 % on research and development. Some of my relatives have been in implement businesses since 1948. Have had Ferguson Moline Versatile Oliver MF White Ford JD Melroe(now bobcat) and many short lines. John Deere is by far the best overall. Parts service resale value reliability full line etc. Never had Case or IH. But they were strong competition.

[@arvbergstedt3303]

Massey went downhill. That’s why they were bought cheap.

[@jaybiberstein9920]

This is what happens when someone picks a topic for a video that the know nothing about.

[@michaellynch739]

At least the video actually talked about hart parr

[@christiandamgaard1129]

You forgot something wery important: The ferguson system.

[@bradleamon4466]

Was this just a bit biased towards John Deere

[@blauer2551]

Only a 9 minute video can’t cover all of them. Most here in the US don’t even know about many of the European brands, just Deere and Case.

[@stephenstrohacker7863]

Tell me this...WHAT did John queer actually create for new technology? Last thing I can think of was in 1837 with the plow. And they couldn't do that first as John Lane had developed a plow 4 years prior. So, in my mind, John Deere is a marketing business, NOT an industry leader in technology.

[@donchristie420]

Kinda like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, etc.

[@farmtype]

No mention of Ferguson and the 3 point pressure sensing draft system either

[@stephenstrohacker7863]

@@donchristie420 gmc wouldn't exist without Henry Ford. Where do you think Cadillac came from? Yep HENRY FORD!

[@alexblough5739]

A lot packed into a short amount of time. We could go on for weeks about this topic, as so many important periods were overlooked

[@claudgurr431]

No mention of the Ferguson 3 point lift, power take off, or even why tractors evolved to the universal big rear wheel/small front wheel until the advent of awd machines. Not forgetting tire design, the signature offset chevron self clearing cleat treads haven't been improved on yet. Nothing about diesel engines either.

[@musicauthority9939]

Farmall and International Harvester are synonyms with each other. my grandfather purchased first two Farmall tractors. that were equipped with pneumatic tires in Nampa Idaho. they were a huge improvement over steel wheels. especially in regards to fuel consumption. he also owned a number of tractors since then that included. Case, Oliver, Minneapolis Moline, Massey Ferguson, and a Massey Harris, it the only one that wasn't a tricycle type tractor. which he had to have to do ditching. because siphon tube irrigation was commonly in Idaho. until more recently when more modern forms of irrigation systems became much more popular. he also had a Massey Ferguson windrower. I would have to say his favorite tractor was the Minneapolis Moline. it seemed like he used it for almost everything.

[@lanedexter6303]

Wouldn’t it be great to have a 1938 Minneapolis Moline UDLX, and drive it into town on Saturdays?😀

[@thomaserixton4662]

The most accurate thing I heard on this video were the facts about Hart Parr. Not saying there wasn't other true facts but almost none of the pictures matched the captions, steam engines weren't "prone" to exploding, there was only 2 or three gasoline self powered threshers ever built otherwise any thresher could be powered by any means of power. Not to mention there were a lot of facts left out about the evolution of steam tractors and steam to gasoline tractors as there were many different things tried by other people than John Froelic and John Deere. I get that it's just a shot entertaining video for views but at least make it quality content you can actually learn from if you're going to do an informative video.

[@kennethjackson7574]

Picture this contraption. A rectangular frame, probably 12-15 feet by 8 feet. Vertical shafts on the corners with an un-powered wheel below. Pulleys at the top of each shaft, with cable wraps that allow steering all in the same direction or turning them in opposite directions. Steering wheel at both ends, and operator seat at both ends. A steam engine in the middle. Under the steam engine were two moldboard plowshares in opposite directions, pivoting like a seesaw so only one is in the ground at a time. The steam engine drove a crankshaft with two throws on each side. It had four rods similar to an engine’s connecting rods. On the ends of the rods were cups inspired by horses’s hooves. When you got to the end of a furrow you would retract the plowshare, turn the corner wheels in the same direction so it crabs sideways a bit, shift the plowshare, flop the rod/hoof things over, sit in the other seat, and get going again. I have a photo of my ancestor who built it seated on the thing. He built this (prototype?) in his basement prior to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fires. As there is no onboard boiler, if it ever moved, it must have had an external steam source. If it weren’t for the photo I doubt anyone would believe it. Sort of a steam-powered mechanical plow horse.

[@northdakotaham1752]

While many tractor manufacturers advanced on to four and even six cylinder, smooth running engines, John Deere hung onto their old two cylinder opposed design for what seemed like forever. Case and Allis Chalmers, Minneapolis Moline, all had powerful four cylinder engines. Massey Harris had a four cylinder diesel.

[@yokiniqu]

How do you talk about (US) farm tractors and not mention IH or Farmall.

[@ronaldlucas5360]

Interesting

[@user-ni9hn6fi2r]

Gottlieb Froelich is my great great great grandfather!

[@Troy440Dodge]

Farmers the world over and John Deere owners in particular owe the man a tip of their hats. I own a small John Deere tractor and I'm not a farmer. I sometimes wonder how I lived without it.

[@duron700r]

I cannot take your presentation and aligned photos. Please correct?

[@scottjaecques7409]

Actually Oliver did more for the modern tractor like live pro and mfwa 6 cylinder engine ! Helicut transmission gears ! 3 point hitch

[@Thatguybob5]

You forgot about Case and International harvester

[@davidrobertson376]

Yep, And Fiat, David Brown Nuffield, Leyland, Chamberlin, Oliver, White. Caterpiller. Seamed like a school project to me.

[@Thatguybob5]

@@davidrobertson376 Also Cockshutt, Steiger, and both Massey’s but I guess it would be kind of tedious to go over each and would be more work for each manufacturer.

[@davidrobertson376]

@@Thatguybob5 I agree but the presentation seemed to focus on one or two as if they were the only pioneer tractor builders Dispite being Australian I consider tractors from Eastern Europe and Russia as very important contributor's to Agriculture

[@joerichardson-vi2kx]

Thanks. An old man who learned to plow staring a mule in the ass taught me that when you're in the middle of nowhere it ain't the brand. it' is a good dealer.

[@fredhart7904]

Also AC developed the rear tire power spread wheels, another big labor saver, many new ideas were tried in order to sell tractors, Case had the case o matic transmission, which I suppose was an automatic transmission for their tractors, don’t think it when over too good, Ford tried the select o speed some liked it others not so much, We have a TO 35 Massey Harris Ferguson, 1957 model, great little tractor for its size and ease of use, still going strong today,

[@rudgerhotsma]

Where is international harvester in this story? You didnt even mention europ

[@markissboi3583]

WW2 Tanks remade into bulldoxers & tractors in OZ to clear land The last aussie built tank found under a gumtree in nsw restored Now resides in the war Musem Canberra

[@markissboi3583]

tanks where used in Gallipoli .

[@arthura.applegatejr.7145]

The Fordson came about when Henry Ford collaborated with Ferguson to get Ferguson’s draft control for the Ford tractor. Also left out completely is Deering and McCormack who brought the Farmall to fruition. Not a very in-depth, knowledgeable Video. ‼️

[@kaimachineschannel]

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@roycsinclair]

What's with the random and extreme music volume changes near the end of the video?

[@johnwanjala4311]

In African continent when tractor was brought in,it meant that manual labour was eliminated so African labourers invented their own method of getting rid of the tractor so they surrounded the machine and burnt it down only the 2nd, 3rd and many more to be brought in.

[@timeunity8457]

That’s crazy!

[@obelic71]

Like horses every brand/model of tractor has its own personality. I often drive a 1973 Landini 5500 tractor whit a UK 3cil diesel Perkinson engine. That old reliable lady is used to haul heavy trailers on construction sites after here farm days. Yes you need to be strong to master that though girl but she really never lets you down! 0% luxury but she is well liked due to here purity as a machine and therefore also well maintained. If i needed to have a vehicle to go to hell and back i would choose here!

[@rotunda57]

I didn't see Mr. Douglas and his Hoyt Clagwell in this 😐

[@randallsullivan3692]

You wouldn't jump around from old to new and back to old a few times would you???

[@robertheinkel6225]

The reason John Deere became so popular and available, was that JD offered financing. That was unheard of back when JD was starting out.

[@michaelchaney7881]

I don't know what farmer you've been talking too but myself and all.the farmers I know work 16 to 18 hours a day

[@iamnormal8648]

Is this history of tractors, or history of tractors in USA?

[@alexthomas637]

🚜🚜🚜😎😎👍

[@alanhowse9213]

Other companies made innovations that are today, the staple these machines you’ve just failed to mention them, which just makes your story poor

[@jeffharden6313]

I believe the traction motor changing or being shortened to tractor was to save money on print in newspaper advertising.

[@stephenstrohacker7863]

Valid argument.

[@macw2234]

Has anyone told you that you sound like tucker 😅🤣

[@bobstuart2638]

When did the comma start getting pronounced as a silent "one mississippi?"

[@williammay5300]

The most powerful tractor ever built is the BIG 747 it 1100 horsepower!!

[@Tibbs_Farm]

The case 150 that was restored is claimed to have roughly 8,000lb•ft of torque. The big bud 747 may have the most horsepower, she it don't have the most torque.

[@loganbeedy5950]

@@Tibbs_Farm actually the 150 case wasn’t restored, it was built from original blueprints as no original case still exist except for one boiler

[@Tibbs_Farm]

@@loganbeedy5950 ohhhh

[@godman-meherbaba359]

💕💕💘💘❤❤

[@klauskarbaumer6302]

What is not made clear here is that 'the humble tractor' wiped out millions of farms because it sent money outside of the farm with its purchase and what was required to run it. There could have been a happy mixture of horse-drawn and tractor farming since many of the implements which made work easier had been invented for horses/ mules already, but people went overboard and then in millions of cases out of business.

[@floydrhodesiv5733]

Dude ,if you ever worked behind a team of horses ,you would know what was better.

[@klauskarbaumer6302]

@@floydrhodesiv5733 I have been working behind horses for the past 60 years, young fellow ( which you must be addressing somebody you don't know as 'dude') and i still like it better than driving a tractor ( which I did, too, when I was younger).

[@jg2480]

You are full of shit. Tools have always sent money outside of the farm, Tractor or mule puled doesn't matrter does it ... The fact is most people are not smart and millions went out of business because they couldn't hack it so had to flee to factory jobs were they are told what to do. Most people and i will say farmers simply aren't the sharpest tool ... son ...

[@rossbryan6102]

IF YOU LIKE TO EAT, THANK A TRACTOR OPERATOR!

[@aatukorhonen17]

first pic is finnish quality

[@johnmoenster9995]

The Farmall was a much more significant invention than the John Deere D. Leaving it out makes this video massively inadequate.

[@punyaps]

" Tractor " comes from traction motor, not traction engine.

[@jeffjorden3340]

There are no "villages" in Iowa, they are called "towns"...lol

[@carlyleporter5388]

Limited historical knowledge, lots of BS.

[@keithhooper6123]

Very disjointed and repetitive video,with no mention of Fergusons three point linkage.Still interesting,though.

[@choreboy3906]

Obviously, creme doesn't rise to the top. Business does. How sad!

[@timeunity8457]

Yeah !

[@brucespidle8711]

Probably the worst history of tractors that has ever been produced, of any form. This guy is either clueless, or biased, or maybe both.

[@clintonlehmann4369]

He a city boy for sure

[@briandietrich1373]

Oliver and Ford are the best

[@boycejeffery9062]

Be nice if the narrator could pronounce words properly

[@evernewb2073]

microsoft sam has been having some issues after all that plastic surgery. seriously though, this video is the result of taking a stock-image resource bin and hooking it up to a chatbot which is in turn hooked up to a search engine...the script doesn't quite sound like most of this auto-written stuff though, like someone sat there trying to get the result they wanted over and over again...it's way to new to be from getting the kinks out of the software...honestly it probably really is someone trying over and over and over while editing the search terms and limitation parameters: most of the information in the video is either grossly misrepresented or flat out wrong, the bot gets stuff wrong _all_ the time but it mostly does that for the same reason you'd get a lot of stuff wrong going off of the titles of the first 10 results on a google search, if you want it to tell a specific bias for you you gotta sit there and fiddle with it...kinda wonder if they have any specific guidelines for when to stop trying to get the bot to do the work and either do it yourself or drop the prompt in whichever group put out this latest piece of junk pretending to be related to something I was watching...I've blockd a few of these channels a day lately but they're almost as easy to set up as those spambots in the comments section claiming to be the channel creator informing you that you won a prize and youtube actually actively HEAVILY encourages making a few hundred duplicate channels for any given body of content so I'm probably gonna keep blocking a few a week until either that encouragement changes or they finally manage to make the bots smooth enough that they are hard for me to spot.

[@evernewb2073]

...or blocking hundreds of "educational" videos finally gets it to stop suggesting them every time I watch something educational.

[@joescheller6680]

It is well known even though JD is a great company that they copied patents quit efficiently to get to the top.

[@richardkruse1574]

you are not on one subject at a time you screwed up history of farming and tractors

[@tractorsold1]

IMHO a minimum of information, repeated, hardly touching on the subject.

[@donaldripper3354]

Please get a dictionary and look up the meaning of the word "insane"

[@choreboy3906]

History of the tractor? No manufacturer ever equaled the pulling power or economy of Minneapolis Moline. Period. Options? Nothing but Deere. What a joke.

[@FlintstoneR1]

How any documentary purporting to cover the history and evolution of the farm tractor, can reach its conclusion without mentioning Harry Ferguson, misses at least 70% of that evolutionary path! The entire documentary appears to have been based on the “research” of a single visit to the John Deere museum. Oh wait! Harry Ferguson wasn’t American. Therefore can be ignored completely. Now I understand why this video was a complete waste of time watching. ☹️😡💩

[@rocknral]

I am numb ti the word "insane". This video is ...meh.

[@roykey3422]

The best selling tractor world wide today is the Massey Ferguson. And the word tractor is a contraction of the words traction motor not traction engine. Gee. A tracgine?

[@Grisu1805]

This really feels more like a John Deere ad than everything else. Leaving out many important developments that lead to modern tractors, this is basically "John Froehlich did a thing, John Deere happened, suddenly: modern tractors". You could become a really good channel, but come on, be more diligentwith your research. You can maybe use this as a presentation about tractors in 7th grade, but not as a grown-up on youtube. Try to be better. Try to bring quality content. Not that. Edit: I just simply googled "tractor history", and the first search result, dating from 2017, is considerable parts of the video VERBATIM. Common, man, now this is just a waste of time.

[@corrigansrestorationvideos9403]

You forgot ferguson