That honor goes to the John Deere steel plow.
Used for the first tilling of The Great Plains!
These are small versions of the locomotives that have been re-engineered to run without tracks.
Steam power has an enormous advantage over internal-combustion engines, in that they have the maximum amount of torque right at stall, and increasing the steam pressure is what provides their pulling power and even acceleration under load.
Of course, nobody thought in terms of economy in those days, as the fuel (wood, or coal, or even straw) was relatively cheap and widely available.
That honor goes to the John Deere steel plow.