Agricultural Equipment Developments in the Early 1900s

The early 1900’s brought about big changes in transportation. From the increasingly popular automobile to air travel, the world was propelled by motors. This became ever more true on the farm as well as the development of motorized agricultural equipment created a boom for
farmers, allowing for quicker and more productive plowing, planting and harvesting.

Gasoline Powered Tractor

The first gas powered tractors were sold in 1902. They were large, hard to steer and expensive. Large manufacturers quickly began developing smaller, less expensive alternatives. The early motorized tractor was great for pulling a combine and for plowing, but was too big to cultivate certain crops.

In 1925, the company International Harvester built a small, lightweight tractor called the Farmall, which revolutionized crop cultivation. Competing companies soon came out with small, all purpose tractors of their own. No longer done manually with horse-drawn equipment, cultivating as well as plowing, planting and mowing were all soon completed with all purpose tractors.

Motorized Combine

Harvesting of grains was once done by hand or with horse-drawn combine equipment. The first motorized combine was introduced to the farm equipment market in 1922 by Massey-Harris. While it was still a horse-drawn combine, the combine contained machinery that reaped and threshed the grains. The first motor-propelled combine was invented in 1935 and was soon followed by similar equipment from competing companies.

Combination Corn Picker/Corn Husker

Motorized corn pickers were widely used in the early 1900’s, but it wasn’t until the 1920’s that a machine was invented that could both pick and husk corn. The machine would snap the corn off of the stalk, and then remove the husk. Like a lot of early mechanized farm equipment, corn pickers were first run by small, stationary engines, then later as an attachment to a tractor. In the 1950’s the first self-propelled corn picker was invented.