Equipment Help

[Anonymous-0]

I need some help with equipment from the past and the differences between now and then. Any information you can supply on the following questions would be much appreciated.

What is the most widely produced type of farm equipment?

What was the first produced type of equipment?

What is the most widely used piece of equipment of today's time?

What is the most expensive piece of equipment of today?

How does modern equipment differ from machinery of the past?

Thanks for any responses!

 

[johns48jdb]

you need to go to a big book store and look for some books or look for some of the adds in green magazine or two cylinder magazine for books that wil answer alot of yur questions. you ask some that are hard to answer. probably most produced item would be a treactor, but the implements that went with them shoud be just as numerious. nearly ever body who bought a tractor had to have a disk harrow, turning plow, planter and cultivator for it. now alot of mule drawn equiptment was adapted to fit the early tractors. jd mule drawn planters could be retro fitted with an attachment so it could be pulled by a tractor and if i'm not mistaken made to go on a three point hitch. a 3 point hitch is a fast means of attaching different equiptment to the tractor very fast, as compared to the older method of putting on a cultivator for instance. hardly any body uses a turning plow any more. they spray a burn down chemical and the use a no till planter or drill to plant the seeds with. another spray over the top of standing crops is some times used to do a final clean up. i don't know what jd sales the new cotton picker/bailer for, but i would think that the biggest combine made would be the most expansive. are you a city slicker or just somebody young who needs info for a class report.

 

[paul]

It doesn't work that way.

Your questions are too vague to know how to answer.

You won't get any useful information.

What is it you really want to know?

You know, the first equipment produced was a rock or stick or bone that was used to work up some dirt, millions of years ago.

A hoe (depending on how you define 'hoe' to include all the sticks & bones & such is likely the most produced farm tool.

Think you are looking for things from the modern world tho, made of steel?

You need to narrow down the question some.

--->Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

I am most definitely not a city slicker. I am a young kid that has to do a reserch paper on farm equipment. We were supposed to ask some guiding questions to get us started. Anything helpful is fine. You don't have to anser just the questions i wrote. Anything about past or present farming equipment is helpful.

 

[johns48jdb]

go to the implement photos section of this site and look at all the different things they have for sale. sorry didn't look at your handle. if you have a museum any where close to you it would be very helpful for you to make the trip. your family will enjoy it to. hitting some antique stores or trade days will also let you do a hands on on some of the older stuff too. i want to say wadells fram equipment is the name of the book that would help you alot. not near my camper to look at it right now. see if you can find a tractor show any where close to you in the next week or so. all the guys there will be glad to show you what they have and how it works. just walk up and ask. they are real friendly people and have a vasr amont of knowledge on their displays. more later.

 

[super99]

Can you narrow your paper down to just one brand of equipment? The easiest and probably the most info would be on John Deere. Lots of history out there on Deere and older equipment up to todays modern stuff. Would make life a lot simpler. If not, google Binder books, Ertel Publishing Library, C. H. Wendel-Encyclopedia of American Farm Implements and Antiques. Don't remember the titles, but there are books on the history of JD, IHC, Case, AC, MF, MM, Oliver, Ford. Hope you don't have to buy all of them, would be expensive. Chris

 

[dansuper27]

This is a great topic. Think about our history folks.

1. The most widely produced type would be the tractor.
2. The first type would be the horse drawn implements back in the day. Field prep, planting and crop gathering.
3. The most widely used today would be the tractor again. Everything has to start with that unit.
4. The most expensive would be the Combine
5. How does old verse new differ? Mainly in the volume and speed of whatever function in Ag you are doing. Every step forward has increased speed and capacity along with operator comfort.

 

[Anonymous-0]

#1 I would agree with tractor but the next highest item would be the plow depending on the time frame being considered. If sales today are only being considered, forget the plow. Then perhaps a planter, or sprayer. I don't believe the drill will have enough sales volume.

#2 The plow or plow like implement

#3 A tractor, but if that is not an option then three items come to mind. A planter, sprayer, or combine. My vote of the three would be for the sprayer because unless you are organic, you spray.

#4 Probably a combine, but the cottom harvesters are also darn expensive.

#5 Way too much to cover in this forum, as they have said get some books.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I really appreciate everyone's input. For the paper, i have to keep the topic broad so im not allowed to specify one certain model of equipment. I would really like to focus on the differences between the 1950s and now for the question about how does farm machinery differ. Obviously the speed and technology have increased but i also want to know about engine size, production means, production costs, and parts involved. I don't know if there are parts now that used to not be used or vice versa or anything like that but that would all be helpful.

 

[Dubv1980]

I would say the one biggest difference in the world of row crops from the 1950s to today is the replacement of the tractor and various implements for harvesting corn and grain with the combine.
I would say that one of the other big changes between the 1950s and now is the growth in no-till or minimal till cropping and the equipment that goes along with it. Virtually no one in my county uses traditional tillage anymore with a traditional mouldboard plow...its all either no-till or light disking..thats a pretty big change. Hope that gets you going a little bit..there is a lot of research to look up on that topic, and equipment to go with it!

Chris

 

[JoshuaGA]

(quoted from post at 19:31:23 03/18/08) I really appreciate everyone's input. For the paper, i have to keep the topic broad so im not allowed to specify one certain model of equipment. I would really like to focus on the differences between the 1950s and now for the question about how does farm machinery differ. Obviously the speed and technology have increased but i also want to know about engine size, production means, production costs, and parts involved. I don't know if there are parts now that used to not be used or vice versa or anything like that but that would all be helpful.

Well, the secret, if you want to call it that, to the differences in cropping in the 50's vs. now is chemicals. Conservation till never would have came about without chemicals. Most people hardly ever use a plow anymore except to reclaim land or build and repair terraces. Most all of our tillage now is done by machinery that allows the residue to stay on top of the ground. Examples are field cultivators and chisel plows. We run coulters now on planters to loosen and prep the dirt around the seed. You hardly ever see row crop cultivators anymore (well, you see more now with resistance weeds), but the ones you do see are built using one large sweep instead of multiple sweeps to preserve residue. Chemicals usually provide good weed control along with controlling insects and fungus diseases. The way we harvest has changed too. Now we use rotor technology to harvest crops vs. the old cylinder and walker combination.

As far as the equipment itself, lets first look at average farm size. in 1950, it was around 160 acres, wheras now, it is around 600 acres. In 1950, 30 to 35 horse gas tractors was the norm. Now, 150 hors diesel tractors are the norm. Really, the biggest gain in horsepower was during the 60's, when we went from a 50-60 horsepower average to 100+ horsepower average tractors. Greatest advance in my opinion is the cabs. To be out of the weather and dust and etc. is a luxury, and sometimes a necessity. We ride those tractors continously 6-10 hours or more a day, it becomes even more critical to feel good when you climb out of that cab at the end of the day. The tractor is also all computerized now. Electronic fuel injection, automatic shifting transmissions, electronic three point hitch, etc. etc.

There. My thoughts. Take them at face value.

JoshuaGA