Author Topic: Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War  (Read 6536 times)

Offline 75Plus

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Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War
« on: June 02, 2014, 10:35:23 AM »
A friend  sent me this link. It is amazing how much power those old steam tractors had!

     


Enjoy,

Joe
« Last Edit: June 02, 2014, 12:17:44 PM by dsquire »

Offline AussieJimG

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Re: Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2014, 03:01:28 AM »
I think it was friction (grip) on the ground plus torque.

Torque is what takes you up the hills, horsepower takes you down the other side.

Jim

Offline mattinker

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Re: Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2014, 06:16:21 AM »
The John Deer is much lighter, looses traction and no amount of power is going to overcome that, if it wasn't reving so much, it would do much better!

Regards, Matthew

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2014, 07:51:50 AM »
Try with a horizontal tow hitch. So not to lift the JD's rear axle........  :poke:

David D
David.

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Offline vtsteam

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Re: Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2014, 12:43:09 PM »
Now whether that wasn't the absolute best the Deere could do under ideal conditions, it nevertheless was pulling hard and would have shifted an impressive number of concrete blocks if it had been hitched to them instead.

With those front wheel treads that looks like a 4 wheel drive tractor, too. I don't know whether they were powered or not. maybe with a slip transmission the power shifted to the back wheels, or maybe the guy decided to spare an expensive transmission and unlocked them. That might have been a wise decision to make under the circumstances!

But look at the steaam tractor. Barely noticing the load, an easy pull just like it was idling along. Not the slightst hesitation. Meanwhile hopped up Deere dug itself in 2 feet. I don't think it wasn't being held up off the ground any by the hitch.

Maybe the steam tractor had more weight, but maybe not as much as it seems. But it definitely had bigger wheels, and it was definitely was steam powered, two major advantages, since steam can develop huge torque at zero rpm.

A steam engine is just a big piston pushing on a lever, even when stopped. Letting in more steam pressure is just like increasing oil pressure on  hydraulic cylinder -- is a straight translation to more force out. Multiply the number of square inches of the top of the piston by the increase per square inch of pressure, and you get the increase in force on the con rod. a 100 square inch piston getting an additional 10 psi force on a 6 inch crank has just increased its torque by 500 foot pounds. An IC engine has to rev to get max torque. A steam engine can do that just sitting there.
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Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline awemawson

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Re: Modern John Deere vs 1800's Steam Tractor Tug of War
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2014, 12:50:16 PM »
.... and the steam engine is just so laid back and calm against the brash shiny diesel jumping around like a spring lamb  :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex