I need someone who is quite older to answer a question about the impact of tractors on thier life?

Question

I am reasearching how tractors impacted my grandfathers life, at the moment he is in the hospital so i have no contact. could someone please tell me how it changed their life, what tractor was typical in the mid 50's and general info concerning tractors then
thanks

Answer 1

First of all, internal combustion engined tractors gained popularity in the 30's. Before that, steam engines were used. Of course horses continued to be used commonly. When farming with horses, 80 acres was just about all one man could handle. Two teams were needed, one used before lunch and one after. Horses and mules also ate year around while tractors used fuel only when needed. So, cropland that was used to grow feed for the horses could then be used to produce a crop to sell. Horses always started in cold weather though. Belt pulleys were common and used long flat belts to turn other machines...saw mills, hammermills for grinding feed, threshing machines and so on. Farmers were able to farm more ground and farm size grew, especially as tractor horsepower increased. From the 30's till now, John Deere and McCormick was common. Allis Chalmers (in 1939 I think) was the first to use rubber tires as older tractors used steel wheels. Oliver, Massey Harris, Minneapolis Moline, Case and Ford were popular in the 40-60's as well as JD and International Harvester. Some like Case made the transition from building steam engines to internal combustion engined tractors. Kerosene was common for fuel in the 30-40's but was replaced by gasoline in the 50's and 60's. Diesel engines became popular in the 60's and are used exclusively now. Operator comfort was not a concern back then (steel seats, no mufflers) and the need started to be recognized in the 60's with most manufacturers offering enclosed cabs by the late 60's. Many old timers have or had damaged hearing from the loud mufflers and transmission noise. Normally it was worse in the left ear than the right since most controls were being located on the right in the 50's and 60's. and the operator was usually turned with his left ear forward toward the exhaust. Now days the heated and air conditioned cabs house GPS, computer screens for managing the tools being pulled and so on. Nowdays the average tractor costs as much as a new house and is only one piece of machinery. That doesn't count all other implements needed. New combines (for harvesting grain crops) can easily cost $250,000-300,000.

Answer 2

my father was a farrier ie he put shoes on horses.he seen things changing.technology is always changing.