John Deere Tractor vs. 1800s Steam Tractor

WIMP ^ | 5/17/14 | WIMP

[SWAMPSNIPER]

A modern John Deere tractor with 850 horsepower plays tug of war with an 1800s era steam tractor that has about 18 horsepower. While both are capable of getting an honest day's work done, there is only one that proves its dominance through sheer power.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Weight advantage trumps horsepower.

[freeandfreezing]

The upward angle of the pulling line puts the newer tractor at a bit of a disadvantage, but it would have probably lost even with a horizontal line.

[Bryan24]

18 horsepower and about 1500 ft/lbs of torque. Also, the steam tractor was taller than the John Deere.

[Amendment10]

So which is greener, the John Deere tractor or the steam tractor? At only 18 hp, I suspect the more powerful steam tractor is greener.

[Uncle Chip]

Wow — they just don’t make horses like they used to.

[Average Al]

Together the team makes a great trencher.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Torque may be at play here, too. Amazing drawbar power on that steam tractor.

Those farming innovations made industrial-scale farming possible and led to the 95% reduction of labor needed to feed the world. Of course, that led to obesity, heart disease and death, but it's much better to die well-nourished at 75 than under-nourished at 45.

[JLS]

I also wondered if the huge wheels on the drive shaft of the steam engine contributed to its advantage. I am not an engineer but maybe one could comment on that?

[DManA]

Unfiltered coal smoke is nasty stuff.

[rdcbn]

Progress?

The steam engine may have put out a rather unimpressive 18 horse power but the torque from that steam engine is impressive

[Balding_Eagle]

That isn’t a JD engine, by color maybe a CAT.

Hitch is angled enough to lift the back wheels up reducing traction significantly for the JD.

The JDs 4 wheel drive wasn’t engaged.

Still entertaining.

[Sawdring]

Where was that picture taken?

[digger48]

A stock John Deere 8130 is only 240 HP and weighs 25,000 pounds

This one has been modified for tractor pulling

[crz]

Lots of things to consider that contributed. Speed times Force over 5252-if I remember right.

Weight is the advantage. The steam tractor has traction. The farm tractor does not in this case.

[shove_it]

Looks like he needed 850 actual horses.

[shove_it]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Palouse_hills_northeast_of_Walla_Walla.jpg/800px-Palouse_hills_northeast_of_Walla_Walla.jpg

[crz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhgHrDbN4EU

Challenger pulling full stack train up Archer Hill.

[trebb]

I also wondered if the huge wheels on the drive shaft of the steam engine contributed to its advantage. I am not an engineer but maybe one could comment on that?

Don't know the true dynamics, but the steam engine has 100% torque while sitting still - would have to break something to get it to back up. As long as it had traction, the newer tractor would have to drag it and probably had trouble with spinning tires.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

That's The Palouse in eastern Washington and western Idaho...it is an incredibly beautiful land. It was hard to mechanize farming there because of the hilly terrain...early harvesters only worked on flat lands. Smaller combines were invented specifically to harvest wheat in The Palouse. Major crops today are wheat, lentils, peas and rapeseed (canola oil).