Steam Tractors !Used As Main The Tractor on farms

D-C-741 · Mar 23, 2013

About What years did Any One use them For all there Heavy Work.Before Gas & Diesel Tractors Took over ?

Mike (WA) · Mar 23, 2013

My impression was that they were pretty much done by the mid-twenties, which would probably be before anyone's time on here- but will be interesting to see if anybody on here ever watched or used a steam tractor for actual farm work.

kj(seil) · Mar 23, 2013

before my time, but mom had pictures of her riding with her grandfather plowing with a steam engine, probably had to be in the early 30's. I do remember there being a large gang plow and a thresher in one of the barns on his place, he was gone but a great aunt lived there. that was in the late 50's

rrlund · Mar 23, 2013

My brother in law has one,but with all the money and time he's got in to restoring that beauty I don't think he'd ever risk taking it out to do anything but belt work at a steam show.

Charlie M · Mar 23, 2013

Local steam pageant does some plowing with them every year.They can pull a lot of plow with those old tractors.

Nebraska Cowman · Mar 23, 2013

The teens were the heyday of steam. 1919 I believe was the last year for the Winnipeg plowing trials and gasoline tractors were coming on pretty strong. My dad was born in 1919 and he told me he could not remember when Granddad got the first Fordson which was a kerosene tractor. Granddad ran a big Westinghouse thresher with the Fordson, cutting the bundles and hand feeding it himself. before that they used horsepower. I can remember there was an old treadmill horse power in the north barn when I was a kid.

Pitch · Mar 23, 2013

My grandfather had a steam power unit that he ran a hay press with up in to the early '60's when he got an Allis round baler. He also still used a couple of hit and miss until my uncle took over and modernized in the early '70's

supergrumpy · Mar 23, 2013

Uncle Larry would move his steam engine from farm to farm, had to detach something to have it move by itself then reattach it for the belt work

hauled lots of water from the farmers ponds, hated geese, the geese poop in the water caused the boiler water to foam up real bad

John B. · Mar 23, 2013

Some steam engines were made for pulling and others made for stationary work. You can tell by the rear wheel axles. Years ago steam tractors and gas tractors were built mainly for plowing.
Then in 1923 IH came out with the Farmall that could do all the field work.

Steam Tractors !Used As Main The Tractor on farms

D-C-741

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Mike (WA)

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kj(seil)

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rrlund

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Charlie M

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Nebraska Cowman

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Pitch

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supergrumpy

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John B.

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