- 3 months ago
The Oldest Tractor I've Ever Seen
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Good morning, everybody. To me, this is an old tractor. It's almost 60 years old,
00:05which is almost triple my age, but that is nowhere near the oldest tractor that I've ever seen.
00:16This old girl runs on diesel, and you know what? So does my new surprise tractor. Still runs on
00:22diesel, but that steam tractor ran on whatever they could burn. Coal, wood, scraps they had
00:30laying around out back. Things were a lot different in the 1890s.
00:34Back in 1890, Idaho officially became a part of the United States. And earlier this year,
00:55I had the pleasure of visiting Idaho for the very first time. It was so absolutely beautiful. I have
01:03never seen landscape and terrain like that. And what really amazed me was all of the farming that
01:10happened in the area that I was in. We were driving along the road and all of a sudden out of the
01:15corner of my eye, I see something in the weeds and we just had to pull over and stop. I knew without a
01:24shadow of a doubt, this would be the oldest tractor that I've ever gotten to see in person.
01:33Take care.
01:45Manufactured between 1890 and 1924, these steam engines were
02:15just a marvel. This era of machine was the last to be produced and manufactured using
02:23convict labor. The late 1800s was not a fun time to be a farmer. That was right around the second
02:32part of the industrial revolution and it's when farmers really started to be able to make the
02:38switch from full-on subsistence farming where they were truly just trying to grow enough food to feed
02:44their families and animals to having access to things like these steam engines, like threshing
02:51machines, having the power to actually be able to produce enough of a crop to feed their families
02:56but then also sell a crop at market. In 1890, a bushel of corn was worth 20 cents. Oats were worth 15 cents
03:07a bushel and wheat was worth 50 cents a bushel. We had the opportunity to talk to the now owner
03:14of this steam engine. He came out and talked to us about who had owned the machine and what it had
03:20been used for. It had actually been used to run a sawmill and the board that came out of this sawmill
03:27built the house that this man was living in to this day. This woodshed built out of wood that that steam tractor engine helped mill.
03:43House even had a basement. Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company produced around 8,000 of these steam engines
03:51and we had the honor of seeing one in person. I'm so curious to know what it would take to get this
03:58thing running again. As we walked around, you just can't help but imagine if that steam engine can talk,
04:06what stories would it be able to tell you? Can't imagine the things that it has seen from 1890 to now.
04:14Because of the increase in production in modern agriculture, farmers actually started to see
04:19the rise of monopolies. 1890 is when the Sherman Antitrust Act was initiated. Anyone remember
04:27learning about that in history class in school? The late 1800s and early 1900s was just such a pivotal
04:34time in the United States. Thinking about the modernization of transportation, people started to
04:40be able to drive cars and to take trains places and use them not only for the transportation of themselves,
04:47but for the transportation of goods. There's just not very many old relics laying around like that
04:54and it seemed to be in really good condition. The owner was so kind and I'm so grateful that he allowed
05:01us to take some pictures and videos to share with you. Between us, Grant was just giddy the whole time we
05:08were there. I'd love to find out if there's some kind of event or meetup where old engines like this are
05:16still being used and operated. Things have obviously changed quite a lot in agriculture as right now
05:23I'm driving a tractor down the road. I am sitting in an air ride seat and I have air conditioning everywhere.
05:32Imagine if the men that rode that steam engine and operated it all day long could see where we're at
05:40today. I think especially if they lived and farmed in Idaho they would be shocked at how flat our land
05:47here in Nebraska is. While we were out there we also had the chance to see some old side hill combines.
05:54Combines that are used to harvest grain in really steep conditions but still keep that grain level
06:01so it can be properly thrashed. I didn't even know they made side hill combines this old. Check out the
06:09cylinder in there and the big cables. So this all keeps the insides of the combine level while the head
06:17and tires stay close to the ground. This is just like our combine at home but with side hill stuff. This one
06:27looks like it's still in use. Oh this one's just a little bit beefier. Hey it still has both spinners
06:31on the back. This one's doing way better. Look at the even older one that got over over here. Oh man.
06:39That one doesn't look like it's in use anymore. But this thing. Wow. Look at this ladder. I think we could get
06:49by with this. Bigger tires than on ours. You see any mice running around in there? I'm afraid I'm getting
06:57pretty close. I think a mouse might jump out at me. Look at all the travel this combine has. We were
07:04around all those rock crawlers last week and it's just amazing to see how much flex this combine has
07:10compared to like this is like a jeep of combines. It's pretty incredible. So the combine needs to be level
07:17to work properly so all the grain flows through at an even rate. So if the combine is leaning all the
07:22grains are going to flow to one side and dump a bunch of grain out the back. So to keep them level
07:26they have to put these huge shocks or huge hydraulic cylinders and cables to keep everything level.
07:34Look at this. This back half has been ripped off so you can see how the grain gets sieved through
07:43down and augured. That belt's looking in rough shape. The chain's not on either and we're definitely
07:52missing some tires. Check out the engine fire.
07:54The owner said this combine caught on fire and was parted out here.
08:04We've seen a couple combine fires haven't we Grant?
08:07This one actually fared pretty good. Left a lot of saveable parts. These older combines have a lot
08:12more metal on them than the newer ones. The newer ones have a lot of plastic.
08:16Grant is a sixth generation farmer carrying on the legacy and tradition that his family started
08:23so many years ago. 1878 is when Grant's relatives actually immigrated to the United States and started
08:33farming the land that we are still farming to this day. I feel so very fortunate to be farming in 2025
08:42with all of the amenities that modern farming comes with. Right now corn is about $4.10 to 25 cents
08:55depending on where you're at and it's not that great of a year. I was just trying to think about the spread
09:00between 20 cents then and $4.20 now and what that kind of translates into.
09:08I may be a little biased but I do think that farming is one of the coolest jobs in the entire world.
09:17I love being a farmer and I love being able to share my story and other people's stories with you
09:27here on YouTube. So just let me take a small moment to say thank you for watching and following along on
09:33my journey. This buddy seat right here this is where you sit because we're in this together. I was doing
09:41a little bit of research about these steam engines and I really couldn't find anything about how much
09:47they would have cost when they were first manufactured. I imagine it had to have been at least a couple thousand
09:55dollars right? How can you beat this view? Nothing but green corn and blue skies as far as the eye can see.
10:12We're about eight weeks out from applying Storen herbicide and just look at these rows. They're clean all
10:18the way underneath the canopy. I've used other products that have faded out way before this.
10:22Storen's long-lasting residual is what really makes the difference. It lets the corn focus on growing
10:27strong without the weed competition. For us farmers that means better grain fill and less stress mid-season.
10:34I've seen especially good control on the waterhemp and palmer, two weeds that usually give us a lot of
10:39trouble here in Nebraska. If you're looking for reliable season-long control, talk to your local Syngena
10:44retailer about Storen or visit StorenWontQuit.com. Now let's get back to work. Finally time to unhook
10:51and park this thing. Got a little bit of a tractor jam in here if you know what I mean.
11:00Never mind it wasn't that easy.
11:14I think it is only right that we do a little bit of crop update, so let's go to the
11:44video check on the corn. Can you believe this stuff? I cannot even get to the bottom of the tassel.
11:55We are at not full tassel yet because the pollen isn't coming down, but these plants are about to
12:02be pollinated, which is crazy because it feels like these were just planted a couple weeks ago.
12:06You can also see, look at the fuzzy hair we have on our developing ears of baby corn.
12:15Corn is a self-pollinating plant, but then it also kind of spreads around to the other ones,
12:20so all of this pollen, the stuff that makes you sneeze, will rain down, sprinkled by the wind,
12:26and pollinate each one of these little silks. Each silk is connected to a kernel of corn that is going to be
12:33developing. I'm going to sacrifice this one to show you where we're at in our stage right now.
12:38This is not sweet corn, this is field corn here. Look at those beautiful silks.
12:44I am encouraged because I don't see bugs or diseases hanging out around there. They look clean and crisp.
12:53And look at this. Here is our baby miniature ear of corn. Can we give it a taste?
13:08It's like corn. Trying to just get the kernels and not the cob.
13:15All of this to say, sorry baby corn.
13:17It is looking so good. Now we just need the hail and the wind to stay away. They've developed pretty
13:28good roots. There's a first root system under the ground. Then there's also these brace roots
13:33that come out and just give it a little extra support and stability. I've seen these corns
13:38to stay strong through harvest. We will probably start harvesting this like first week of October,
13:45maybe. So stay tuned for that. That's the best part of the whole farming year.
13:53Now we just drive a little bit further and check on our soybeans.
13:57Soybeans are getting tall. This was our very first planted field. They're almost up to hip height.
14:05Soybeans are so nice and bushy. They're very difficult to walk through. They're planted at such a high
14:10population. We've got a really good stand. They haven't been blown over by the wind or affected
14:16by any hail. Knock on wood. But we are seeing some insect pressure right here. The leaves being eaten
14:23through. You can see these Japanese beetles just going to town. So that is, so far that's our main problem.
14:32But look at this. We have flowers. This is where our soybean pods are going to be coming in from.
14:42So these leaves are just soaking up all sorts of sunlight. Our roots are strong tapping down into
14:50the water that we have in the soil. Look at these guys. Growing big and strong. Now hopefully they will just
14:57develop a nice hearty full bean pod. We'll be ready for harvest come like end of September probably.
15:13Last but not least I thought I'd include a little bit of a sweet corn update. These rows here were
15:20planted last. These four. So as you can see they're definitely behind these first planted ones that have
15:29already tasseled out and pollinated. We are going to be having sweet corn in no time. Looking great.
15:41This tractor right here joined our farm probably about in February of this year. So it doesn't even have
15:49a full year of work on our farm on it yet. Safe to say farming looks a lot different in 2025 than it did
15:59way back in 1890. What is that like over 130 years ago? We feel very blessed to have the equipment that
16:07we have today. But you know what? I'm sure the first farmers to have a steam engine on their farm
16:12thought they were the greatest farmers of their generation. They probably felt pretty good about
16:16themselves. I cannot imagine what farming is going to look like 135 years from now. Thank you so much
16:23for watching today's video. I hope you learned something and we will see you in the next one. Bye!
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