Having replaced the horse on most farms, the tractor has gone on to become an essential tool for the Canadian farmer. Despite the often high cost of tractors, most farmers own several, including a large four-wheel drive model reserved for field work as well as a smaller “chore tractor” used to move materials such as bales of hay around the farmyard.

Using electronic controls, the operator can monitor functions like engine rpm, or the hydraulic pressure in hoses connecting the tractor to equipment such as the no-till seed drill that the tractor both powers and pulls. Radio and cellular phones are used to maintain contact with home base, and to check commodity prices. And today, most large tractors come equipped with a comfortable cab, essential when working for hours at a time. The tractor has truly become the farmer’s office in the field.

About the Author:

Franz Klingender is Curator of Agriculture at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. On a number of occasions he has picked up a bundle fork to help feed a threshing machine. It's hard, hot and prickly work.

For more information, contact:

Franz Klingender
Curator, Agriculture
Canada Agriculture Museum
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1G 5A3

Tel: 613 996-7822
Fax: 613 947-2374

© Canada Agriculture Museum 2002

This publication is also available as a brochure published in the Curator’s Choice series. It is also published in French in the series Le conservateur raconte, under the title Les tracteurs.