Then and Now
Tracked Machinery
Necessity is often the cause of invention, and that is precisely what led to the first experiments involving wheeled steam tractors converted to run with tracks. Pictured here is one such experiment conducted in 1905 with an oil engine tractor-crawler conversion of 1896.
Testing of these tractors converted to run with tracks began in 1904 in Stockton, California. The experiment involved removing the tractor wheels and replacing them with tracks made from a series of wooden blocks bolted to a linked steel chain that ran around smaller wheels with a driven sprocket and idler on each side.
Early conversions of crawler tractors were steered by a single tiller wheel. Further development led to disengaging drive to one track by means of a clutch for maneuvering. By 1908, gasoline powered crawlers were well under use.
