hot damn, Steve finds more interesting stuff... the origin of the phrase "tractor trailer" and inventor of the rocking 5th wheel still used today, the Knox Martin tractor

 

 The Mt. Vernon (New York) Fire Department (below) was paying out $36 per fire engine for horse upkeep.  The Knox road tractors that replaced them cost $2 each per month.

 Knox's introduction in 1915 of their Model 35 tractor with four wheels put and end to the three-wheeler.

thanks to Steve http://serviside.blogspot.com/2011/09/tugboat-of-land-commerce.html who still has to add this info to HIS post!

He is kinda busy, but reads my blog, and when I post something I know nothing about, he blows my mind with his deep knowledge of it.. this post is due to the photo I put up yesterday:

the Knox Martin Tractor was introduced at least by 1911, and was built at least through 1914.  Its inventor, Charles H. Martin was acknowledged to be the father of the semi-trailer, having invented (and commercially applied it to the Knox) the rocking fifth-wheel that is still in use today - along with the term "tractor-trailer."  In 1911 Martin opened his own factory to build Martin Tractors, while advertising that only the Knox and Martin were licensees of Martin patents.

above image only, found on http://truquetructruk.tumblr.com/

that cowling looks like a hot rod stuck on a tractor!

it's an Oliver tractor, 60 Row Crop model found on http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=538135&showall=1

amazing machines, from an email gallery Mike just sent me

the cure for a Zombie-pocolypse

found on http://steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com

a harvester/ditcher tractor so big they built a shack on it to stay in the shade

Found on http://steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com

the Big Lizzie, biggest tractor built in Australia, invented by frank Bottrill (invented of the pedrail system)

the below is just one of the trailers, it has two steam engines on it

above 2 images found at http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/766470/negative-mildura-district-victoria-1925-1935

Big Lizzie had a Blackstone single-cylinder engine that delivered 60 horsepower at 275 rpm, running on a mix of diesel and crude oil. It was cooled by water, and had an exhaust-induced airflow "radiator" that Bottril had designed. The 7 feet diameter flywheel weighed three tons, and the entire engine weighed eight tons. The tractor was 34 feet long, 11 feet  wide and 18 feet high. Big Lizzie included a blacksmithy and anvil mounted on the foredeck. The total weight was 45 tons.

Botrill's patented wheels were also used on "Big Lizzie", a huge traction engine which McDonald's built to his design in 1915. Big Lizzie could carry almost 90 tons when two trailers were attached. There were just six bearers on each wheel, compared to Bottril's earlier designs which had as many as twelve bearers. This placed more strain on the cables retaining the bearers, and had the effect of reducing the tractor's speed to one mile per hour. Big Lizzie was awkward to maneuver, with a turning radius of 200 feet.

Bottrill planned to drive Big Lizzie to the Broken Hill mines, with two pedrail-equipped wagons in tow. He left Melbourne early in 1916, taking his family with him. He traveled at a maximum speed of 1 mph, going off road where bridges were not strong enough or the road bends were too sharp

From 1920 to 1924 Bottrill worked in Red Cliffs, in the Rural City of Mildura, clearing the ground for a 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) irrigated farming settlement for World War I veterans. Up to 16 men helped attach cables to trees and stumps which Big Lizzie then hauled out.

above info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bottrill

She was rescued in 1971 by the Redcliffs Big Lizzie Preservation Committee who restored her and settled her in her final resting place.K.N McDonald has recently located the missing second trailer and this has now been sent to Mildura for restoration  http://www.oldengine.org/members/kennedy/mcdonald/docs/biglizziedet.htm

above photo from http://www.tractorshed.com/contents/tpic15102.htm

learned about it on http://steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com

more cool finds from fifties50s blogspot

Is this a 3 wheel Reliant Robin?

http://fifties50s.blogspot.com goes to a lot of big swapmeets and auctions in Europe and posts a ton of photos of the cool stuff they see there

what's important in a pull contest? Traction, not power. 18hp steam engine vs 850 hp John Deere

thanks Steve!

by traction, of course, the weight of the old tractor being so much more than the John Deere, and the larger flat contact patch of the twice as large wheels. 

Great unusual aircraft photos from http://odinsbane.tumblr.com/

Found on http://odinsbane.tumblr.com

Happy tractor day! or whatever reason they had to make this tractor pyramid

https://www.facebook.com/LAGTMagazine

oh man... just put a turbo on it and have a ball!

found on http://www.obviouswinner.com/obvwin/2012/11/14/volvo-240-turbo-racing-terror-farm-tractor-burning-out-like.html 

real tractor built in the Netherlands

Looks a little like the Batman Tumbler found on http://www.obviouswinner.com/obvwin/2013/6/4/farmer-batmans-tumbler-tractor.html

I finally learned of a model T museum that has been photographed many times but not identified in emails, Near Yuma Arizona is an old gas station / private collection/museum

Steve told me that this was originally a gas station in Holtville Ca, but was bought and moved here

it is North of Yuma, in a small town named Bard. The collection is open for visitors in the cool winter months http://www.dynamitedave.com/places_cloud_museum.html

far from the utilitarian work tractor, this 1948 orchard model from IH McCormick Deering is very streamlined!

for info: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/004/9/8/4988-mccormick-deering-o-4.html

 IH commissioned an industrial designer, Raymond Loewy, to give the new Farmall general-purpose tractors a sleek new streamlined look. Designed for small-to-medium size American farms, IH's new machines offered a wider variety of capabilities, engines, and equipment options. 

IH took care to produce a model for almost every farm and every need.  Sales took off, and letter-series production did not end until 1954. Overall, the Farmall 'letter' series, well built and affordable, became not only a defining product line in IH history, but an iconic symbol of the prototypical American small-farm tractor. Many machines (especially the two largest models, the H and M) are still in operation on farms today.

a variety of good stuff from Go Away Garage

how cool is this old wrecker, they weren't called tow trucks when and where I grew up, they were known as wreckers. One thing I like about this one, the tire covered  front bumper was often used to push a vehicle that couldn't move under it's own power, because a lot of cars then were stick shifts, and if the starter or battery wouldn't work, all you needed was a push start.

above, a Wallis tractor

Above, a Wilkinson motorbike, and the seat! That looks comfortable!

Hard to make out, but the Moroso gold valve covers, and the wheelie bars? I think this was for drag racing

Above, a part of a Norman Rockwell. The best part.

I don't think I've ever seen a woody bus before, but it looks good!

that is the biggest fire gong, or a big train flywheel

 
the racket 4 motors must have made!

incredible kid sized trailer! Too cool!

damn cool garage shelving idea!

Yup, the dog lovers would likely be outraged at the dogs stuck in the trunk, but it's a neat photo anyway

All found on http://goawaygarage.blogspot.com