Inventions & Discoveries · Farming and food

Tractor

1889 · 19th century

A tractor is an engine-powered vehicle that pulls or drives farm machinery. The first tractors were steam ploughing engines, which followed the self-propelled traction engine Thomas Aveling made in 1859; in 1889 John Charter of Illinois built the first gasoline-powered tractors, and John Froelich built another in Iowa in 1892. Dan Albone's Ivel Agricultural Motor of 1901 was the first commercially successful light petrol tractor, and Henry Ford's mass-produced Fordson of 1917 held 77% of the US market by 1923. By 1935 nearly a million tractors were in use in the United States.

Tractor
Image: Mulad · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

On the inventions tree

First known
1889
Where
Illinois, United States
Credited to
John Charter · John Froelich · Dan Albone

NoteSteam came first: Thomas Aveling made a portable engine self-propelled in 1859, and steam ploughing engines, used in pairs to haul a plough by cable, were the first tractors.

Built onSteam engine1606Internal combustion engine1794

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See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Tractor. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tractor
MLA
“Tractor.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tractor. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Tractor.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tractor.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Tractor’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tractor (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻