Built in 1920 and owned by Neil Lundgren of LaMoile, this relic of days gone by was once as common a sight as the ubiquitous John Deere is today. Back before the advent of gasoline powered tractors the steam tractor played a vital role in the farms of our area. This beautiful example was manufactured by the Port Huron Engine and Thresher co.
Port Huron Engine & Thresher started out life as the Upton Manufacturing co. in 1873 in Battle creek, MI but moved operations to Port Huron in 1884 with the name being changed to its title in 1890. At the time it was impractical for every farmer to own a tractor. What happened was one man or a group of men would buy a tractor and then travel from farm to farm during harvesting season, the farmers paying them for the use of the tractor. It wasn't just tractors that were sold though. Steam powered road graders, and portable sawmills were also built. In addition various farming implements, corn sheller's & huskers, threshers, road wagons, were built to be used in conjunction with the main unit.
In the example I saw that day a large leather belt was run from the thresher to a huge flywheel on the tractor, this serving as a power take off. The tractor pulled the belt taut and then used the power of Steam to operate the thresher, saving the average farmer many back breaking hours of threshing by hand.
While a real time saver, they only had a brief run of fifty years or so before the availability of cheap gasoline as well as the dropping prices of smaller tractors made it possible for each farm to have its own tractor. While now considered obsolete, these old survivors still hearken back to a day when Steam was King and we were glad to have them.
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you have a comment or know of a place that would make for a great future article drop me a line. Thanks!