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How did the gasoline tractor influence farming?

 

• Farmer on Oliver tractor
• Hart-Parr gas tractor
• Steam tractor
• Tractor with 5 wagons attached
• Cutting Oats
• Farmers at Work in the Past
• Farm Machinery Production
• Threshing Day
• Tractors Come to the Farms
• Mechanization of Farms

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Investigation Tip:
Look closely at the photo of the Hart-Parr gasoline tractor. What important details do you see?

 

• See the development of farm machinery and agricultural technology in this timeline from the 17th Century to present.
• Agricultural transportation has seen dramatic changes from the 17th Century to present.
• Take a look at these amazing pictures and descriptions about the early methods of plowing.
• Can you imagine plowing the prairie with this farm implement?
• Stopping for lunch during haying was a time to rest, eat and plan the rest of the work day.
• What is a combine? How does it work? Explore this one online!
• The Hart Parr 14,000 pound #3 two-cylinder gasoline engine with 30 horsepower at the belt and 18 at the drawbar is the oldest surviving internal combustion engine tractor in the United States.

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Gasoline Tractor

In 1892 John Froelich built the first gasoline-powered tractor that propelled itself backward and forward. His invention helped pave the way for modern farming.

John grew up in Froelich, a Clayton County town named after his father, Henry. John ran a feed mill and elevator and tinkered with machines. Mounting a gasoline engine on a well-drilling rig gave him the idea to mount an internal combustion engine on a tractor. A few weeks later, the tractor— a forerunner of John Deere tractors— was shipped to South Dakota, where it threshed 72,000 bushels of wheat in 52 days.

Froelich, with other investors, founded the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company in 1893. This company eventually became the John Deere Tractor Works.

Like many inventors, Froelich received little recognition for his work during his lifetime while others profited from his creations.

Adapted from an article printed in The Goldfinch 20, No. 1 (Fall 1998). Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa.
© State Historical Society of Iowa

 

1. Gasoline Tractor