Throughout history, many have attempted to replace human and animal power with mechanical power for farming. However, it wasn't until the steam engine era in 19th-century Europe that powered agricultural machinery became possible.
The Frenchman Alabart and the American R.C. Parvin of Illinois invented the earliest steam-powered tractors in 1856 and 1873, respectively.
In the 1830s, some began researching the use of steam-powered vehicles to pull agricultural implements in the fields. However, the steam-powered vehicles that could be built at that time (the precursors to steam tractors) were like small locomotives; even if they didn't get stuck in the field, they would compact the soil, making cultivation impossible. In 1851, the British scientists Farras and Smith first achieved mechanized farming using a steam engine. Some consider this the beginning of agricultural mechanization, but their method involved placing the steam engine at the edge of the field and using a steel cable to pull the plowshare from a distance. Later, with advancements in steam engine manufacturing technology, miniaturized steam engines emerged. These were mounted on vehicle chassis to drive wheels, enabling them to move directly from the edge of the field to pull agricultural implements – this is how the tractor was born. Early tractors were similar to early steam-powered automobiles, but with greater horsepower and slower speeds.
Early tractors were heavy, expensive, and inconvenient to use, often requiring several people to operate. Suitable for cultivating vast fields, they were generally unaffordable for individual farmers. In 1889, the Chadda Engine Company in Chicago, USA, manufactured the world's first agricultural tractor using a gasoline internal combustion engine – the "Baga" tractor. Because internal combustion engines were relatively lightweight, easy to operate, and highly efficient, their emergence laid the foundation for the widespread application of tractors. In the early 20th century, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, and Britain almost simultaneously manufactured tractors powered by diesel internal combustion engines. During World War I, labor shortages and rising agricultural product prices due to the war spurred the development of agricultural tractors. Between 1910 and 1920, a fierce competition ensued between steam-powered and internal combustion engine-powered tractors, with the latter demonstrating greater superiority and gradually phasing out the former. Today's tractors all use diesel internal combustion engines.
On November 24, 1904, the "Model 77" steam tractor underwent its first trial and later entered mass production. In 1906, Holt's Tractor Manufacturing Company produced the world's first tracked tractor powered by a gasoline internal combustion engine. This tractor began mass production the following year and was a successful tractor at the time, becoming a prototype referenced by Britain several years later when developing the world's first tank.
In the development of wheeled tractors, people initially widened steel wheels to increase the contact area with the ground and reduce pressure, but the effect was not good. Later, they devised a method of adding a rubber protective layer to the steel wheels. After the invention of automobile tires, people used solid and pneumatic tires for tractors. However, automobile tires were not entirely suitable for tractors; firstly, the treads of automobile tires were too shallow and fine. Secondly, it was discovered that tractors performed better on soft ground when their tires were underinflated than when they were fully inflated. In 1932, the Fieldsdowne Tire & Rubber Company in the United States produced a large-diameter, high-tread, low-pressure pneumatic rubber tire. This was a truly suitable tire for agricultural tractors, greatly improving the driving and traction performance of wheeled tractors.
By the late 1940s, tractors had replaced livestock as the main power source on farms in North America, Western Europe, and Australia. Subsequently, tractors were widely adopted in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa.
