Farm Machinery Tools
Today's land-cultivating farmers require machinery essential for the survival of our planet. Farm machinery must meet the needs of an exploding global population. Basic farm machinery tools haven't changed in the past century. But technology has made them more productive, easier and more comfortable to operate. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Tractor
-
This is the essential piece of equipment that all farmers require. Before mechanized tractors were invented in the late 1700s, farm work was performed manually and by livestock. Plowing fields for crops, creating furrows to plant seeds, harvesting and cutting are now a breeze with tractors that pull wagons and attachments. The mechanized tractor is considered the major social and economic discovery of the 20th century. Advanced computer-controlled versions of the 21st century have created more crop yields, made the expansion of family and corporate farms possible, and reduced the amount of fossil fuels consumed, significantly reducing environmental pollution.
Combines
-
The combine is used to pick crops, clean crops, harvest crops and separate the wheat from the stalk by cutting and thrashing grain to remove the edible grain from the stem and hull. The first combine in the United States using both livestock and a mechanical combine was invented by Hiram Moore in 1838. In 1915, the International Harvester Company offered the first fully stand-alone mechanical combine. In 1925, tractor-drawn combines were introduced. Today combines have many features of luxury cars and trucks, including air conditioning and state-of-the-art filtered cabins to block dust and dirt.
-
Plows
-
Plows work to loosen and turn soil to improve irrigation, growing and planting. Plows are considered the earliest pieces of farming equipment, dating back before 1000 A.D. Constructed of stone and then of metal, they were also once livestock driven. Heavy prairie grass was so thick that simple single-blade straight plows could not cut through them. The curved chisel plow solved this problem. Mechanized plows were introduced in 1836 by John Deere, a company that still manufactures farm equipment.
Hay Balers
-
A hay baler collects cut grass and compacts it into square or round bales for storage indoors. Hay was stored in the tops of barns before the invention of the mechanical baler. These "hay barns" took up considerable room and were a fire hazard. In the late 1800s the mechanical horse-powered baler came into use. The evolution of the stand-alone baler followed that of many farm machines. Steam-powered balers were replaced by internal combustion engines, which pulled the baler behind them; teams of harvesters put the bales of hay into hay wagons for transport to a storage area. Balers of the 21st century are self-contained, computerized wonders that cut, bail and self-store inside storage containers transported to where livestock are kept for feeding.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
