1877 Fowler Steeplechaser with 12 foot high wheels

The 12-foot wheels were intended to reduce the ground pressure and give better propulsion in soft soil.

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/traction/traction.htm

Fordson with a Hadfield-Penfield Rigid Rail traction system

https://classicdozers.files.wordpress.com/

I posted something like this about 9 years ago that I came across by accident

 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/09/lakeside-has-lots-of-old-dozers-hanging.html

Gray Drum Drive 1918 tractor

The large drum on this tractor was used for traction to by pass Caterpillar patents. The wide drum on this tractor also prevented the soil from compacting.The entire engine in this tractor slid forward or backward to speed up or reverse the tractor’s direction.

http://www.aghistory.org/museum/gallery/
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/jacksnell707/2912438064/

The Gray Tractor Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota was one of dozens of companies trying to make it big in the tractor business in the teens and 1920s. What set the Gray apart from its competitors was the large drum which took the place of rear wheels. According to company advertising, the drum offered ten advantages: “Simplicity of construction; does away with all bevel gears and differential; distributes weight over a larger surface; avoids packing of the soil and injury to seed bed; ideal for soft and wet land; gives double traction surface; supplies more power to the drawbar; produces a never-slip grip; affords easy steering and turning; and rolls everything flat before plows.”2

One Gray owner agreed with at least some of these claims. Roy Mitchell and two partners bought an 18-36 HP Gray tractor in Winnipeg during the summer of 1918 and drove it out to the farm two miles south of Headingly, Manitoba. Mitchell said he hauled four-wheel tractors out with his Gray “when they got down so bad in the mud in the gumbo soil in the Red River Valley.”3 He went on to say that the Gray was good for travelling through snow. Mitchell took his Gray tractor with him when he moved to Star City, Saskatchewan in 1927.

There were two practical problems with the Gray drum drive tractor. One was that, given the wide bearing surface of the drum and consequent low soil pressure, the tractor bumped over every stone it encountered, and in many applications, it would hit just about every stone in the field.

 The second problem was that the operator was at the very back of the machine, making it hard for him to see. This was partially alleviated by swinging the seat out from the side of the tractor so the operator sat sideways to the steering wheel and looked over his shoulder to see where he was going.

http://wdm.ca/artifact_articles/gray.html
http://www.steel-wheels.net/gray.html

the Belt Rail tractor, a lot like a snowmobile track pushing it along

http://www.staritraktor.si/userfiles/images/Ameri%C5%A1ki%20traktorji/

1906 3 wheel Best steam tractor with huge drum wheels

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/california-agriculture-museum-celebrates-regions-rich-ag-history-on-family-day/attachment/calagmuseum-bigtractorw/

Empire tractors, built with Jeep drivetrains

https://hansonmechanical.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/9th-mason-dixon-willys-jeep-show-and-gettysburg-tour/

Russian empire Allis Chalmers B6 tractor truck

http://smolbattle.ru/threads/Автомобили-Первой-мировой.41020/

things that make you go Hmmmmmm

a Ford, a Porsche, a Mercedes, and a Lamborghini are racing each other.... the Ford wins, but they aren't cars.

They are tractors.


Jack Donohue’s 96 Mile Per Hour 1952 8N Fordson.

http://theironmule.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-8ncredible.html

Full post on this tractor at http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/09/jack-donohue-tractor-racing-aficionado.html


Porsche diesel tractor

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402136/Is-slowest-Porsche-TRACTOR-iconic-sports-car-manufacturer-speed-just-15mph.html

Mercedes

http://thecrosawesomesauce.blogspot.com/2011/04/mercedes-benza-beautiful-sports.html


Lamborghini Nitro

https://rayblessed.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/1-1_lamborghini_nitro.jpg

Marc commented that this Lambo Nitro tractor was in Car and Driver test drive article - http://www.caranddriver.com/features/a-monster-lamborghini-meets-italys-monster-road-feature

tractor racers Ab Jenkins and Barney Oldfield, publicity men for Firestone tires and Allis Chalmers

It was in 1932 that Harvey Firestone, owner of Firestone Tire, had three Allis-Chalmers tractors built, not for their pulling power, but for speed. They were the first tractors to be fitted with rubber tires.

Firestone hired celebrity race drivers, including Jenkins and Barney Oldfield, one of the most famous of the early auto racers, to engage in tractor races at county fairs and agricultural events.

Famed race car drivers like Frank Brisko, Barney Oldfield, and Ab Jenkins performed in front of an estimated 1 million people during 1933 alone.
http://www.agriculture.com/machinery/tractors/antique-tractor/allischalmers-u_201-ar15591

http://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18003&title=barney-oldfield-and-the-allis-chalmers-999
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/09/15/land-speed-tractors-oldfield-v-jenkins/comment-page-1/#comment-9772041

There were promotional field demos, pairing a Model U on steel against one on rubber. And to literally drive the point home a fleet of U’s equipped with a high-speed fourth gear raced at tracks across the country.

One of the tractors was on loan to the Ardell Brown Classic Car Center in Salt Lake City in 2004.

Firestone believed the high-speed tractors would be a way he could show farmers that his rubber tires were a technical marvel, not a gimmick.

The agriculture market was skeptical of the new rubber tires. Tractors, at the time, ran on metal rims.

Firestone hired celebrity race drivers, including Jenkins and Barney Oldfield, one of the most famous of the early auto racers, to engage in tractor races at county fairs and agricultural events.

Jenkins eventually took one of the tractors to Bonneville Salt Flats to set a land-speed record. In 1935, he drove the tractor at 68 miles per hour through a one-mile course. He later was given a belt bucket inscribed, "The World's Fastest Farmer."

Eldon Kearl, who facilitated the loan of the tractor, said his research shows the tractor was purchased by a farmer, who found that it had no power but could go fast. It was later purchased by an Ohio man, Randall Sheffied, who planned to use the tractor to plow fields. He, too, found the tractor had no pulling power but went much faster than he wanted. Research told him the tractor was not meant to plow fields but to race.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595096478/This-tractor-was-built-for-speed.html?pg=all
http://antiquetractorsforum.com/showthread.php/84-Allis-Chalmers-first-in-rubber-and-racing

War, a New Era, and Depression, 1914-1940 By Paul W. Glad

n 1934, Firestone converted outdated steel tractor wheels to new Firestone pneumatic tires

https://www.facebook.com/FirestoneTires

the eventual result of "I'll restore it someday"

found on https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004284075892&fref=nf

the Tracklayer, WW1, Holt 75 model 1909 tractor with a armor shield (thanks Phil!)

Found on http://feldgrau.info/engines/14280-pervyj-tank-ssha

Plymouth orchard tractor, rare, and exceedingly well photograghed for a tractor.

The only Orchard model of the 214 Plymouth tractors built, it’s literally one of a kind, but that’s not it’s real claim to fame. Instead, that comes from the fact that it was the first tractor to be designed for use with rubber tires instead of the studded steel wheels used before.

http://uncrate.com/stuff/plymouth-orchard-tractor/
https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail/GL0616-251565/0/Plymouth-Orchard/

It was bought by the small tractor collection I just posted last month,  http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/05/stonegate-farm-orchard-tractor.html

Toronto snow plow

https://www.facebook.com/All-Things-Vintage-1548902362053001/?fref=photo

Coolest thing I've seen all day, a garage built tractor / engine hoist to ease the moving of heavy car parts around

Very cool hot rodder, and cool guy blogger Travis, had blown my mind again... check out this fast photo gallery build of an ol Sears garden tractor (or mower)
http://perichbrothers.blogspot.com/2016/05/tractor-time-sears-gt16.html