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Poor sales figures for the General Purpose tractor probably discouraged other manufacturers from offering four-wheel drive, as there was a gap of nearly 20 years before significant 4WD activity was resumed, and this time the leaders were mainly British and German. It was equipped with a 25hp Hercules petrol engine with the power delivered through a three-speed gearbox to large diameter front and rear wheels.Įlectric starting was an unusual option and rubber tyres were available later, but sales were disappointing and production ended in 1936. Massey-Harris was the first major manufacturer to offer 4WD, and the General Purpose was said to be the result of a long research and development programme. There were few sales as the majority of customers still ignored 4WD and chose steel-tracked crawler tractors when increased pulling efficiency was needed.Īttempts to persuade farmers to switch from standard 2WD models had so far come from small companies with limited resources, but the General Purpose four-wheel drive tractor announced in 1930 was developed by Canadian based Massey-Harris, one of the world’s leading farm equipment companies and the forerunner of Massey Ferguson. The few attempts at four-wheel drive development in Europe during the 1920s included a tractor from Lanz in Germany with large-diameter front and rear wheels, and Pavesi in Italy produced the P4 with articulated steering.

The unfamiliar drive system may have discouraged some customers but price was the big problem – starting at £450 and later reduced to £375, when Henry Ford’s mass-produced Fordson was selling for £120 in the UK. The production target was 5,000 tractors per year, but the average was probably fewer than 500 per year, according to one estimate, and the company ceased trading in 1924. With one-wheel drive and four-wheel drive models attracting few customers, three-wheel drive was the next option, and this time it was a machine built in Scotland.Ĭalled the Glasgow tractor, it was available from 1919 with a 27hp Waukesha engine from the USA driving the two front wheels and one at the rear. The wartime sales surge brought more than 100 additional companies into American tractor production.Īt least four of them produced one-wheel drive models, with the powered wheel at the rear and two wheels at the front for steering, and there were also several four-wheel drive tractors. In 1889, a few years after the 4WD traction engine was built, the world’s first tractor began working in the USA, starting a new age in power farming.Īpart from a few tracklayers, all tractors were two-wheel drive until a big increase in tractor sales during the 1914-18 war encouraged experiments with different ideas. See also: Machinery milestones that changed farming Steam power on farms was used mainly for stationary equipment such as threshing machines and for haulage, and it was rarely used for field work, where the extra cost of four-wheel drive could offer benefits.įew of the 4WD Rubicon engines were sold, and a rare survivor is in the Henry Ford Museum in the USA.

Image from the Collections of The Henry Ford