MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF JOBs A tractor can do all sorts of useful jobs on a farm depending on what type of tool is attached to it This makes tractors the biggest multi purpose vehicle on the farm John Froelich a blacksmith from Iowa built the first successful gasoline powered tractor in 1892 It was the first gas powered tractor able to move forward and backward and was used for threshing wheat Before this threshing machines had been heavy and hard to use and there was even a risk of sparks from the boiler starting a fire Froelich's machine made farming much safer and was the beginning stage of the tractor that we use today Now there are nearly 17 million tractors in use in the world OGOING UP The front of this tractor below has been fitted with two powerful hydraulic arms to lift heavy objects In this case they are being used to lift and stack bales of hay see pages 26 27 The other tractor is linked up to a trailer and is waiting to tow the hay bales away PITT 10
TOWING A TRAILERE The simplest job a tractor does is towing Even the smallest tractors are used to pull trailers left These trailers can contain anything from harvested crops to manure O IN THE DARK Some jobs on the farm may need to be done at any time even in the middle of the night Some crops like lettuce and grapes are so perishable they have to be picked right away so farmers pick all through the night to get them picked at just the right time Other times farmers have more crops than they can pick during the day and have to work through the nighttime To work in the dark tractors are fitted with headlights right At least it's cooler when the Sun is down LEAF BLOWING Tractors are not only used on farms This tractor left is being used on a golf course It is pushing a machine that cuts the grass
CHANGING FARM MACHINES O Farm machines have progressed from being pulled by animals to being powered by steam to now being powered by gas and hydraulics Though today's machines are far more efficient than those of the past their creation would never have been possible without the inventions that came before them ANIMAL POWER Before steam engines were invented farm machines such as plows were pulled by animals including horses and cows left Animals are still used on farms in many parts of the world today 12
ALL PURPOSE MACHINE Although not as powerful as today s tractors the first gasoline powered tractors left changed farming a NFL great deal They were faster and more powerful than animals and allowed farmers to farm more in less time The first tractors to use gasoline engines CRR were introduced in the 1890s ENGINE POWER In the late 1930s engineer Harry Ferguson right invented the hydraulic linkage that connected farm machinery to the tractor It lets the farmer move and use machinery from the tractor's seat The basic design for this is still used today see pages 8 9 STEAM THRESHING Some of the earliest farm engines were powered by steam Here left a steam traction engine is powering a threshing machine to separate the grain from the straw IT IT OT DI AP 13
