John Deere Tractor vs. 1800s Steam Tractor

WIMP ^ | 5/17/14 | WIMP

[SWAMPSNIPER]

A modern John Deere tractor with 850 horsepower plays tug of war with an 1800s era steam tractor that has about 18 horsepower. While both are capable of getting an honest day's work done, there is only one that proves its dominance through sheer power.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Mine, too. Didn’t like it at all. It was a huge thrill when I was 6.

[Boiler Plate]

It isn’t a matter of horsepower or torque both of which are in favor of the newer tractor. It is simply a mater of traction. That is why the newer starts winning in most cases and then it reaches a point where it just starts digging itself into the ground like a power tiller. The steam tractor most likely outweighs the Deere by 2 or 3 times.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Weight advantage trumps horsepower...

Not as much as one might think. Power is the product of torque and speed. Note that the diesel gets smoked every time he tries to move from a standing start (Speed = Zero!) Ie no power. A steam engine develops maximum torque at zero RPM and thus has the advantage over the combustion engine from the get-go every time.

The "engineer" driving the steamer knew his equipment and how to maximize its strengths. The diesel jockey didn't stand a chance.

Regards,
GtG

[oldtech]

If those old engines could turn up RPM like the modern engines,I imagine the horsepower ratings would be phenomenal.

[free_life]

Compression!

There is a weight advantage but it is compression that won the day. The huge piston in the steam tractor immediately gives almost full torque to the flywheel because of the larger compression force pushing on it, with no exhaust values. The JD horsepower was mostly lost in spinning wheels and exhaust. It was out torqued by the larger compression advantage of the steam tractor. A level draw bar hookup would not have changed the outcome nor would have weight added to the JD to match the syeam tractors weight.

[fso301]

The steam tractor’s hitch gives it a tremendous mechanical advantage because it is lifting the JD’s rear end upward. Therefore, the JD’s has very little ground pressure on it’s rear wheels.

[Western Phil]

“Lewiston Grade”

Drove this from the west about 20 years ago, looked over the edge & way down there was an old truck “parked”. Apparently hadn’t made the turn. Probably still there.

[TigersEye]

Only 3% of illegal aliens work in the ag industry.

[Michigan Bowhunter]

10 HP would be enough with the style of wheel and weight of the tractor. the rope being on such an angle is enough to negate ANY differential in HP over the Green Machine!

[SunkenCiv]

Nothin’ doesn’t run like having mass on your side. :’)

[Karl Spooner]

I wonder how a modern diesel locomotive would fair against a good old steam locomotive?

[eartrumpet]

Smaller combines were invented specifically to harvest wheat in The Palouse.

An old friend worked in a tractor repair shop in the midwest when he was younger. He got a job in Spokane for a year doing the same. First day a farmer came in and said he needed a combine part. OK, which model? For the sidehill combine. No really, which model? Sidehill, you don't know what a sidehill combine is? Mister, where I'm from, we don't even have hills.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL. Scares me to death just watching them operate on the hills.

[Sequoyah101]

Torque, cubes and bulk win every time as long as you don’t want to go too fast.

[Sequoyah101]

The old steam drilling rigs were legendary for smooth power. You could pull off bottom and just ease into it and up she would come.

[Swordmaker]

“nav,” not “nag.”

Farmer’s wife is NOT in the cab.

But you missed it. . . there's an iPhone present. . . and with the proper app, the GPS will let her know at Farmhouse Control Central that Farmer is working too slowly to get back in time for a nooner, and she can nag in absentia!

[Swordmaker]

The steam tractor’s hitch gives it a tremendous mechanical advantage because it is lifting the JD’s rear end upward. Therefore, the JD’s has very little ground pressure on it’s rear wheels.

On the contrary. . . The empirical evidence is that the JD tractor had plenty of ground contact and pressure, because it actually dug itself into that ground. What it needed was traction. . . And sufficient area on that traction for its power to not dig itself into the ground . . .

I suspect the tires on the JD may have had too sharp a tread that acted as shovels to break the ground, digging in and spreading the soil outward, to its disadvantage. The tractor would have been better off with racing slicks in this tug off.

Look at the metal tires on the Steam Tractor: they're flat, with little flair to dig in.

[fso301]

On the contrary. . . The empirical evidence is that the JD tractor had plenty of ground contact and pressure, because it actually dug itself into that ground.

But still, the steam tractor was using some of it's power against whatever downward pressure the JD would normally have.

What it needed was traction. . . And sufficient area on that traction for its power to not dig itself into the ground

I wonder if the JD had water in it's tires?

I suspect the tires on the JD may have had too sharp a tread that acted as shovels to break the ground, digging in and spreading the soil outward, to its disadvantage. The tractor would have been better off with racing slicks in this tug off.

Narrow racing slicks or narrow turf tires.

Look at the metal tires on the Steam Tractor: they're flat, with little flair to dig in.

I can't quite tell if they are all metal or rubber coated metal?

[Aqua225]

The steamer had two things going for it:

(1) Weight
(2) hitch position allowing the steamer to get a pull-up assist on the power axle of the diesel tractor.

Even with the weight, with a level hitch setup, I suspect that the Deere could have broken the steamer if it was a real competition and not a steamer demo for the crowd. Proof the diesel tractor puller was not putting out his 850hp, is to make horsepower, you have to have torque (it’s a linear formula taking torque and RPM into account), and with traction minimized by the hitch position, the engine was never really loaded. Oh he would smoke it once in a while for entertainment value, but he didn’t start in the classic mode, which is to snatch the object in question and keep building speed till traction gives out.

If that JD had gone to 850hp RPM (probably 5 or 6K RPM on that racing diesel), and started hard at the offset, he could have drug the steamer as far as his fuel would have let him. It would have also destroyed (literally) the antique tractor.

This was just a fun thing for the crowds, to see a real steamer working a little against all that new fangled diesel tech :)

Wouldn’t read much into it. The crowds obviously loved the entertainment value, as did I, as I love diesels AND steamers!

[Swordmaker]

I can't quite tell if they are all metal or rubber coated metal?

I suspect not. From the period, rubber was not to sophisticated and would wear out fast. Metal was what was used. i live in Stockton, CA, where Benjamin Holt invented the track laying tractor, which became the caterpillar tractor, the tank, and Caterpillar company. . . and they originally had metal tracks. . . as did the big tractors of the period.

I wonder if the JD had water in it's tires?

Watching the video with the JD tractor speeding across the arena like it did, I suspect it was set-up for speed, which means light weight, so most likely no water.

I think the definite answer to the question probably is here. I found it quite interesting. On the other hand, I think that Diesel Electrics lack romance. . . and are boring as hell. I much rather watch the running gear of a steamer running at 72 miles an hour. That is beauty in motion. . . and engineering to stir a man's heart. An SD-40 rolling along is OK. . . but it just doesn't have soul. And the honking BLAAPP BLAAAP of a diesel Electric Horn doesn't have the evocative sound of the lonesome echo of a steamer's whistle echoing from the distance. It just doesn't.