The old rusty Parr comes from Hart-Parr Tractor Company which began operations in 1897 and sold out to Oliver Tractor company in 1929.
Photo by fiskness/DepositPhotos
Have you ever thought about how important the tractor is to agriculture? Maybe what one invention making the tractor what it is today? Everett Griner talks about that invention. He also tells us a bit about the evolution of the tractor, and what the tractor means to the world population in today’s Agri View.
Evolution of the Tractor
3-point hitch
The tractor has been in use on the farm since the late 1800’s. It was used in a limited way until 1926. That is when an Englishman named Ferguson invented the 3-point hitch. That made the tractor a lot more than a power tool to pull a plow.
Ferguson had limited funds. So he joined forces with Henry Ford, the car builder, to market the Ford Ferguson tractor. It wasn’t until then that the tractor became more than a motorized plow. The 3-point hitch made the tractor what it is today.
From a few hundred dollars back then to something that cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars today. It took the tiny one-row instrument to one that could plant and plow up to 20 rows in one sweep. You see.
It enabled farmers to feed a hungry world. That is something they couldn’t do without the 3-point hitch.
That’s Agri View for today. I’m Everett Griner…