Equipment for the Farm

The One Indispensable Machine

• The tractor is at the heart of a farm's operation. The steam engine that powered America's burgeoning factories in the 19th century also advanced agriculture, reports "The Farm Tractor" at AntiqueFarming.com. With populations growing and implements becoming more sophisticated, the muscle of man and beast was not equal to food demand. Gasoline replaced steam as the primary fuel, and engines could now run on a variety of fuels. The tractor provides the force by which most other soil-intensive machines operate, and its improvements generally advance in tandem with implement upgrades. The belt pulley, drawbar and power take-off, often called the "PTO," are all technologies designed for the driving, pulling and powering of attached agricultural machinery.

Equipment for Taming the Land

• Of the many attachments created to turn over, sift and prepare dirt, they all rightly receive the moniker of "plow." Most-often possessing a metal frame, the plow has curved blades, known as "moldboards," which can be programmed for different levels of depth. The two types of moldboard slice and overturn the soil, the coulters working vertically and the plowshares horizontally. Today's plows can adjust for length and width coverage. The process of plowing eliminates weeds and stones that hinder crop growth.

Equipment for Planting the Seed

• First called "sowing machines," planters today have the capacity to plant several rows of seed at equal spacing and specific depths, according to Roger Corrie at the University of Rochester. These implements have sharpened discs that open and close small channels in which to insert the seeds, gauge wheels to keep depth constant, a metal point to clear the channels, a feeding tube from which to deposit the seed and rear wheels designed to then close up the furrow.

Equipment for Maintaining Soil Health

• The cultivator serves as a second plow of sorts, with the critical distinction of tending the soil after the seed is planted and the crop is growing. With a steel frame construction, again like the plow, the cultivator possesses metallic tusks that bestride the plant rows, softening and purifying the adjacent soil. Such follow-up is crucial to the survival of macropores, i.e., microscopic spaces, which make room for water, oxygen and growing roots, according to Dr. R.N. Carrow at the University of Georgia. Contemporary cultivators ordinarily span three to five rows, but certain models straddle in excess of 15 rows.

Equipment for the Harvest

• The machine so ubiquitous on grain and cereal farms is the combine harvester, which pulls the stalk from the soil, detaches the grain from the stalk and throttles the grain to release debris. This tri-fold job of harvesting, threshing and cleaning explains the machine's name. The header, a set of steel choppers, cuts the stalks, which are then moved onto a take-up reel that conveys them to the threshing drum. Here the stalks are beaten intensely as the grain is released and then sifted.