1902 First U.S. factory for tractors driven by an internal combustion engine Charles Hart and Charles Parr establish the first U.S. factory devoted to manufacturing a traction engine powered by an internal combustion engine. Smaller and lighter than its steam-driven predecessors, it runs all day on one tank of fuel. Hart and Parr are credited with coining the term "tractor" for the traction engine. 1904 First crawler tractor with tracks rather than wheels Benjamin Holt, a California manufacturer of agricultural equipment, develops the first successful crawler tractor, equipped with a pair of tracks rather than wheels. Dubbed the "caterpillar" tread, the tracks help keep heavy tractors from sinking in soft soil and are the inspiration for the first military tanks. The 1904 version is powered by steam; a gasoline engine is incorporated in 1906. The Caterpillar Tractor Company is formed in 1925, in a merger of the Holt Manufacturing Company and its rival, the C. L. Best Gas Traction Company. 1905 First agricultural engineering curriculum at Iowa State College Jay Brownlee Davidson designs the first professional agricultural engineering curriculum at then-Iowa State College. Courses include agricultural machines; agricultural power sources, with an emphasis on design and operation of steam tractors; farm building design; rural road construction; and field drainage. Davidson also becomes the first president of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in 1907, leading agricultural mechanization missions to the Soviet Union and China.
1917 Fordson tractor sells for $395 Henry Ford & Son Corporation—a spinoff of the Ford Motor Company— begins production of the Fordson tractor. Originally called the "automobile plow" and designed to work 10- to 12-acre fields, it costs as little as $395 and soon accounts for 50 percent of the worldwide market for tractors. 1917 Fordson tractor sells for $395 Henry Ford & Son Corporation—a spinoff of the Ford Motor Company— begins production of the Fordson tractor. Originally called the "automobile plow" and designed to work 10- to 12-acre fields, it costs as little as $395 and soon accounts for 50 percent of the worldwide market for tractors. 1918 American Harvestor manufactures the Ronning Harvestor American Harvester Company of Minneapolis begins manufacturing the horse-drawn Ronning Harvester, a corn silage harvester patented in 1915 by Minnesota farmers Andrean and Adolph Ronning. The Ronning machine uses and improves a harvester developed three years earlier by South Dakotan Joseph Weigel. The first field corn silage harvester was patented in 1892 by Iowan Charles C. Fenno. 1921 First major aerial dusting of crops U.S. Army pilots and Ohio entomologists conduct the first major aerial dusting of crops, spraying arsenate of lead over 6 acres of catalpa trees in Troy to control the sphinx caterpillar. Stricter regulations on pesticides and herbicides go into effect in the 1960s. 1922 International Harvester introduces a power takeoff International Harvester introduces a power takeoff feature, a device that allows power from a tractor engine to be transmitted to attached harvesting equipment. This innovation is part of the company’s signature Farmall tractor in 1924. The Farmall features a tricycle design with a high-clearance rear axle and closely spaced front wheels that run between crop rows. The four-cylinder tractor can also be mounted with a cultivator guided by the steering wheel. 1931 Caterpillar manufactures a crawler tractor with a diesel engine Caterpillar manufactures a crawler tractor with a diesel engine, which offers more power, reliability, and fuel efficiency than those using low-octane gasoline. Four years later International Harvester introduces a diesel engine for wheeled tractors. Several decades later diesel fuel would still be used for agricultural machinery.
1932 Rubber wheels improve the tractor An Allis-Chalmers Model U tractor belonging to Albert Schroeder of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is outfitted with a pair of Firestone 48X12 airplane tires in place of lugged steel wheels. Tests by the University of Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory find that rubber wheels result in a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy. Rubber wheels also mean smoother, faster driving with less wear and tear on tractor parts and the driver. Minneapolis Marine Power Implement Company even markets a "Comfort Tractor" with road speeds up to 40 mph, making it usable on public roads or hauling grain or transporting equipment. 1932 Rubber wheels improve the tractor An Allis-Chalmers Model U tractor belonging to Albert Schroeder of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is outfitted with a pair of Firestone 48X12 airplane tires in place of lugged steel wheels. Tests by the University of Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory find that rubber wheels result in a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy. Rubber wheels also mean smoother, faster driving with less wear and tear on tractor parts and the driver. Minneapolis Marine Power Implement Company even markets a "Comfort Tractor" with road speeds up to 40 mph, making it usable on public roads or hauling grain or transporting equipment. 1932 First pickup baler manufactured The Ann Arbor Machine Company of Shelbyville, IIlinois, manufactures the first pickup baler, based on a 1929 design by Raymond McDonald. Six years later Edwin Nolt develops and markets a self-tying pickup baler. The baler, attached to a tractor, picks up cut hay in the field, shapes it into a 16-18-inch bale, and knots the twine that hold the bale secure. Self-propelled hay balers soon follow. 1933 Hydraulic draft control system developed Irish mechanic Harry Ferguson develops a tractor that incorporates his innovative hydraulic draft control system, which raises and lowers attached implements—such as tillers, mowers, post-hole diggers, and plows—and automatically sets their needed depth. The David Brown Company in England is the first to build the tractor, but Ferguson also demonstrates it to Henry Ford in the United States. With a handshake agreement, Ford manufactures Ferguson’s tractor and implements from 1939 to 1948. A few years later Ferguson’s company merges with Canadian company Massey-Harris to form Massey-Ferguson.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham:
|
