The Golden Years of the Tractor
When 1921 rolled around, the 166 tractor companies in existence in the United States had no idea most of them were doomed. How could they?
By Bill Vossler
Everything was going swimmingly. Tractor sales leaped from 29,670 in 1916 to 203,207 in 1920. In the short span of 1917-1920, tractors were used to replace farm horses conscripted to World War I battlefields, where the animals’ lifespan averaged two weeks. Tractors were being used to replace men who were away fighting “the war to end all wars.” During the war years, tractors were used to increase U.S. farm production: tractors outworked horses, and they didn’t eat grain. At the same time tractors were being used on the battlefield, their role as a vital machine on the farm was gaining traction.