A DECADE OF DECISION. 1900-1910

Illustrated History of
Western Canadian Agriculture
Copyright 1980 Western Producer Prairie Books
185 pages,
ISBN 0-88833-059-6 bd.
ISBN 0-88833-068-5 pa.

Not far away, Ray Knight hit upon an equally novel plan, that of plowing with two big stationary steam engines fitted with cables. Perhaps the purpose was inspired by his interest in growing sugar beets and his wish for deep cultivation. The furrows were cut about twelve inches deep and the technique proved workable but not very practical.

Every steam tractor was heavy and demanding. A Case 110, a favorite for operations in big farm fields, hauled twelve plows in sod and weighed 38,000. Needless to say, it did not get along very well on soft ground. When plowing it required an engineer, a fireman, plowman, waterman, fuelman, and cook. Thus, even when burning straw or wood, its operational costs were high and it wasn't much wonder that neighbors were cynical, saying that "the surest way of going broke was for a farmer to buy a racehorse, a studhorse or a steam tractor."

Steam plowing outfits were for operators with big fields and ample turning space, like Charles Noble when he sent ten steamers to break land on his Cameron Ranch in 1918 and had them working around the clock, breaking 400 acres of new ground every twenty-four hours. It required about 100 men to run and service such a fleet of steamers.

The steamer of that day could turn over a lot of land in a day but it was at its best for threshing. Its power was steady, quiet and captivating for all except the farm wife who had the responsibility for feeding the big crew of hungry men, whether the weather was fit for threshing or not.

Steam tractors might be in decline by the end of the decade but more makes were coming on the market while gasoline tractors, with internal combustion engines making a noise like thunder, were looking for buyers. Confused farmers wondered whom among the salesmen to believe. If there was an argument about the merits of two horses, the dispute could be resolved in the showring. Why not subject these new tractor things to a showring test? Directors of the Winnipeg Exhibition were the first to get the idea and in staging the Winnipeg Light Agricultural Motor Competition of 1908, they were not only offering a useful public service but were bringing to their city and show the distinction of presenting the first event of its kind in the world. Here was an opportunity for manufacturers to display their tractors if they were worth displaying, and a chance for prospective farm purchasers to see machines working side by side and on score-card tests.

Nine tractors were entered and seven appeared at the testing ground where they were required to haul loads and plow the tough gumbo sod. There were delays, breakdowns and embarrassment for the company representatives; and then the third day turned wet and the heavy things floundered helplessly, necessitating a postponement, but finally, all the contestants were in the field and plowing was under test. Three tractors experienced further breakdowns. Two of them returned to the field; one did not. It was like a re-enactment of the biological law, "Survival of the Fittest," but the spectators loved it.

When scores were tallied, the gold medal was awarded to the Kinnard-Haines tractor, a 30-horsepower, 4-cylinder monster weighing 13,530 pounds, from Minneapolis, the biggest in the contest. It had pulled a 6-furrow plow, turned 3.2 acres in the time allotted and consumed 20 pints of gasoline per acre, leading to an aggregate score of 117.6 points. The silver medal went to a 9,920-pound entry from the International Harvester Company, with a score of 117 points. It meant that the heaviest tractor won the competition and the lightest one was second, which tended to confuse the farming people looking for some relationship between weight and efficiency. The third prize winner was the Marshall Sons and Company entry from England, a 2-cylinder tractor weighing 10,680 pounds and the only one in the contest burning kerosene.

Prices, which had to be declared, showed the gold medal winner at $2,270, the silver medal winner at $1,800 and the English tractor at $2,700, all f.o.b. Winnipeg.

It wasn't a big show but it was the world's first and won praise from as far as the United States department of agriculture and Winnipegers were so gratified that they made plans for a bigger event in 1909, calling it the Farm Motor Competition of the World. And in that second year there were indeed more entries, steam as well as gasoline. The prize list announced three classes for gasoline tractors and one for steam. Of the twenty-two kinds of tractors entered, only five were steamers, and with no weight restrictions, the range was from 40,860 pounds for the heaviest steamer to 5,000 pounds for the lightest gasoline tractor, and strangely enough both carried the same maker's name, Avery.

Variation in type would have been evident on every hand. Gasoline tractors were present with 1-cylinder, 2-cylinder, 3-cylinder and 4-cylinder motors and traveling speeds ranged from 1 1/2 miles per hour to 15 miles per hour. Likewise, prices ranged from $1,700 to exactly double, $3,400, for the 60horsepower Marshall Sons English tractor.

For the gasoline and kerosene-burning tractors, the International Harvester Company qualified for the highest awards. The company's gold medal winner in the intermediate weight class was a I-cylinder, 20horsepower unit pulling 3 plows and plowing 1.09 acres in 75 1/2 minutes on a consumption of 1 1/2 gallons of gasoline per acre. And its price was $1,700 at Winnipeg.

Among the steamers for which there was still evidence of loyalty, the l20-horsepower Rumely was not the winner but caught much attention when plowing 4.23 acres in 75 minutes on fuel consumption of 580 pounds of coal. The top-scoring steamer was a Case rated at 110 horsepower and plowing 3.6 acres in 62 minutes on 442 pounds of coal.

Tractor competitions were adopted also at the Brandon exhibition but the founding glory belonged to Winnipeg where they were continued until 1914 when it was announced that the annual exhibitions were being discontinued. By that time, the big steamers were definitely in decline. More gasoline tractors were being sold and the new interest was in smaller units. The day of big tractors was passing but they had served two purposes, first in improving the effectiveness of farm workers and, second, in helping to convert thousands of immigrant farmers from inherited ideas of peasant farming. By exposure to bigger machines and obedient new power, no western farmer remained satisfied with a subsistence type of operation.