Steam plow
A steam plow is a steam powered plow . It was invented in the middle of the 19th century and was a first step in the mechanization of tillage in agriculture, which previously could only be done with animal or human muscle power.
Components
A working steam plow set consisted mostly of two self-propelled locomobiles , called steam plow locomotives , which were initially equipped with a cable winch that was initially arranged vertically and later only horizontally under the steam boiler ; furthermore the associated tilting plow, a team wagon, two water trucks and a team consisting of up to twelve men. When steam plowing, the plow was pulled over the field by means of winches . The plow locomotives themselves only moved over the paths at the edge of the field, the so-called headland . At first two men sat on the plow, a handlebar and an assistant to set up and tilt the plow. In addition to the tipping plows, there were other tillage implements for use with the steam plow sets, especially cultivators . These were not tilted to change the working direction, but had a device that turned the cultivator when changing the direction of pull of the rope.
disadvantage
Due to the high acquisition costs of the steam plow sets and due to the system, the process could only be used economically on large areas, but then offered significant cost advantages compared to teamwork. The plow locomotives were very heavy compared to modern farm tractors . Driving into the field to pull the plow directly, as is common today with tractors, was therefore not possible due to the nature (depth) of the European cultivated soils. On the more stable prairie soils in America, on the other hand, there were often steam tractors , i.e. self-propelled locomotives that could pull farm implements or trailers directly, i.e. without a cable pull.
development
The English engineer John Fowler developed the so-called two-engine system in the 1850s , with a locomotive at each end of the field. Each machine took turns pulling the tilting plow across the field with its winch . It was only through this development that the steam plow began its triumphal march through the whole world.
The rope reeling device, which enabled the winch to be installed horizontally, was developed by Max Eyth , along with other inventions relating to steam plowing technology.
At the beginning of steam plowing, there were also single-machine systems that got by with a single steam locomotive, which was initially not even self-propelled, and instead of the second machine used pulleys and so-called anchor cars. To do this, however, the locomobile had to be equipped with two winches.
Working method
The plowing was done as follows: The machine, on the end of the field the plow was, signaled readiness with a whistle of the steam whistle. The other machine then moved a little further forward and began pulling the plow across the field. The rope of the first machine remained - decoupled from the drive - connected to the plow, so the rope was unwound and pulled together with the plow to the other end of the field. Once there, the machine operator on the pulling machine stopped the cable and the plow was tilted in the other direction for plowing. The design of the tilting plow made turning the plow superfluous. Then the process started all over again, this time in the opposite direction.
The capital-intensive machine sets were mostly not owned by farmers in West Germany , but were operated by independent entrepreneurs or cooperatives who carried out the plowing to order. The farmers had to provide certain personal contributions, such as B. to provide the water and coal necessary for the operation of the steam engines . On East German goods, e.g. B. in Pomerania or East Prussia , there were also companies that had their own steam plow sets in operation.
A complete set of steam plows with two machines and a five-blade tilting plow is exhibited in the German Agricultural Museum in Hohenheim .
Manufacturer
Well-known manufacturers of steam plow sets were the companies John Fowler & Co. , J. Kemna , Borsig , A. Heucke and Ottomeyer . At the beginning of the 20th century the company "Julius Kemna" became the "leading steam plow company on the European continent and penetrated the monopoly position of English companies on the world market".
Time preparing well Assmann & Stockder , Henschel & Sohn , the Maschinenfabrik Esterer and some other manufacturers Plow Lokomobilen.
Steam plows in peat cultivation
The steam plow culture did not end in Germany until the 1970s. Although steam plowing was hardly used any more from around 1920 onwards, the steam engines in peatland cultivation (e.g. in Emsland ) remained in operation for a long time.
In 1950, the Ottomeyer company in Bad Pyrmont developed a single-furrow deep plow for cultivating peatlands , which reached a working depth of up to 2.15 m. This so-called Kuhlpflug, type Mammut , had a furrow wheel with a diameter of 4 m and a caterpillar track on the opposite side so as not to sink into the bog .
Using this plow, large areas of bog in the Emsland were transformed into mixed sand culture soils after the Second World War. The mammoth could only be pulled by two powerful steam engines on each side. These very modern steam engines already had around 500 hp per machine, so that around 1000 hp pulled the plow on one side.
The cultivation of peatlands by means of steam power did not end because of the technology, but because, due to increasing yields in arable farming, the further development of peat soils to secure food for the population was no longer necessary. The ecological importance of the moors was also increasingly recognized and attempts were made to place the remaining moors under nature protection.
A Kuhlpflug Mammut and two of the four associated machines are in the Emsland Moormuseum Geeste-Groß-Hesepe.
Electric plow
In anticipation of the future importance of electricity in agricultural power supply as explained by Max Eyth in 1890 and a movement towards the installation of small agricultural power plants by the beginning of the First World War, electrical companies such as Siemens and AEG also experimented with electric plows at the beginning of the 20th century. With the exception of the type of drive, the functionality of the steam plow was adopted. The electric flight could not prevail, however, already in the 1920s no more electric flights were built in Germany. Disadvantages were the necessary long and heavy power cables to the plowing machines, which were difficult to handle, and the expensive operation due to the high electricity prices.
Reception in literature
The local poet Hermann Löns writes about the work of a steam plow in the heath :
“ The steam plow. The Haide wobbles; it trembles in its foundations. (...) One of the men goes behind the iron monster, (...) the other people spread out by the steam engines, which suddenly start to work hard, so that the smoke flies over the Haide. It rattles, rattles and rattles, and the steam plow starts moving. With tenacious strength, the huge crowd pushes through the ground. (...) The machines hum, black smoke and white steam flutter through the air, and the ploughshare eats its way through the ground with a crunch and creak. "
literature
- M. Bach: Schlepper from Berlin, Dahlem domain, publishing house and economy, Berlin 1993. ISBN 3-9802192-4-0
- U. Paulitz: 1000 tractors - history, classics, technology. Naumann & Göbel, Cologne 2004. ISBN 3-625-10749-X
- Hermann Kaiser: Steam engines against moor and heather: wasteland cultivation between Weser u. Ems , Cloppenburg, 1982
- A. Kuntz: The steam plow Jonas Verlag, Marburg 1979.
- G. Fischer, Agricultural Engineering, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1928, p. 253 ff.
- Steam digging machine by Joseph Bauer . In: The Gazebo . 1854, p. 94-96 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
See also
Web links
- Steam plow . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 4, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 476.
- Video of a Mammut steam plow in action ( Memento from April 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Very detailed technical description of a steam plow locomotive from the University of Hohenheim
- Video: Steam rope plow - culture deep plowing of raised bog . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 1966, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / E-1326 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the company Ottomeyer ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Steam plow gallery of the Ottomeyer company .
- ^ German biography: Kemna, Julius - German biography. Retrieved July 18, 2020 .
- ↑ according to Klaus Herrmann, Agriculture and Energy in the Industrial Age - A Review of Agricultural History , Chap. 7: Electrification of Agriculture , in: Claus Dalchow (Ed.), Agriculture and Energy. A permanent area of tension , from the series: Thaer Heute, Fördergesellschaft Albrecht Daniel Thaer eV, Volume 7, ISBN 978-3-9812614-2-4 , Möglin 2010, p. 82.
- ^ Gustav Fischer: Agricultural engineering . Ulmer, Stuttgart 1928, reprinted by Weltbild, Augsburg 2005, ISBN 3-8289-5400-6 , p. 226.
