The agricultural machinery industry originated in Britain and the United States in the 19th century. Until then, the common tools of farming were the plow and the sickle. [1] These iron farming tools were usually made by blacksmiths who regularly worked as blacksmiths in the local village. In the first half of the 19th century, some early agricultural machinery manufacturers emerged from these blacksmith shops [2] [3], such as John Deere, who began mass production of plows in the 1840s.

Agricultural Tools, 1851.
Other companies arose from the introduction of the horse mower method that replaced the hand reaper that had been used since biblical times. [1] A company as McCormick began building such harvesters in the 1840s. And another resource for the agricultural industry was the initiation of the combined harvest, threshing and cleaning in the 1830s. Case Corporation, for example, began building these in 1842 while the Racine Thresher was in Operation. Until the early 20th century most of these machines were operated by horses. [one]

In the mid-19th century, portable steam-powered farming engines were introduced. They were used in pairs, placed on either side of the field to pull a plow back and forth between them using a wire cable. These portable motors were also used to power threshing machines, mills and pumps. [1] Portable steam engines were manufactured by certain agricultural machinery manufacturers such as Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies, who made cast iron plows that began as brass and iron founders in the late 18th century.

In the late 19th century in England, more companies such as Richard Garrett & Sons and Mann's Patent Steam Car and Wagon Company developed steam tractors for direct farming, but Britain's heavy and wet soil means these designs are less economical than a horse suit. was coming. In the United States, where soil conditions allow, steam tractors were used for the direct transport of plows. Steam-powered agricultural engines remained in use in the 20th century until reliable internal combustion engines were developed. [4]

Collins (1987) recalled that the influence of the agricultural machinery industry in the 19th century was still limited. "Before the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the influence of machinery in agriculture was very small compared to that in manufacturing. Some operations, such as barn work, hay and maize harvesting, were largely mechanized by 1880, but until the Second. In World War II, most were still carried out by manual labor. and large numbers of workers were still needed for seasonal work such as hops and fruit harvesting and growing vegetables. "[5]