Full details about tractors in India

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Massey 241 tractor
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First tractor in India

India received its first tractor before independence which was imported from foreign country and it was John Deere B model tractor and many models were imported in India.

After independence

India had not its own tractor manufacturing knowledge and experience and this was the reason of tractor import in India at that time. After independence there was a demand of tractor in India which resulted tractor import and many tractors were imported from foreign countries.
From year 1947 to 1960 Ford Ferguson N models, Lanz Bulldog, Zetor 25 A, Zetor Super 50, Fordson Dexta, Fordson major, Fordson power major, Fordson super major, IMT bull power 533 and Eicher diesel etc. tractors were imported. From year 1948 to 1965 Goodearth company imported more than 1500 tractors from Germany to India. On the other hand Indian government permitted local company to import tractors from USSR and a large number of Belarus, DT 14, DT 28 and T 25 tractors was imported. Ford tractors, David Brown, Turner yeoman of England and International harvester tractors were imported from England. Still demand of tractors was increasing day by day and finally in year 1970 Indian government gave a chance to local companies to make tractors on their own experience and technology or with collaboration with foreign companies.
Then Escort signed a joint venture with Ford motor company and Ursus tractor company to manufacture tractors in India and sell in market. Tractor and farm equipment (TAFE) also signed agreement with Massey Ferguson to make Massey Ferguson tractors in India. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. had signed joint venture with American company International Harvester to manufacture International Harvester tractors in India and later in year 1987 M&M started to manufacture International Harvester tractors under Mahindra brand name.
In year 1972 Hindustan Machine Tools ltd. (HMT) had an agreement with Zetor tractor company to manufacture Zetor tractor under Zetor and HMT brand and later fully under HMT brand name. On the other hand Goodearth company Started to manufacture Eicher tractor in Faridabad, India but later TAFE group acquired motor from Goodearth company and started to manufacture tractor under TAFE.
There was an Indian company which was struggling to make tractors at its own (without any collaboration) Swaraj tractor company , in year 1974 this company had also launched its first 2 cylinder 24 hp category tractor in market and later launched few more different models. In this way India had mainly Ford (Escort), Massey Ferguson (TAFE), HMT, Hindustan (Zetor super), Eicher (Goodearth), Mahindra ( M & M ) and Swaraj tractor manufacturing brands before year 1993. These brands were ruling in tractor market at that time. After that in year 1995 a new company came in tractor market which was Sonalika tractor which is a part of International tractor company, this had used rear end of tractor CMERI designed and initially used simpson engine and later HMT Zetor based engine. Then in year 1996 SAME Duetz Fahr tractor company came in India in collaboration with Greaves company. At that time two more foreign companies also came in India which were New Holland i.e. this company was Ford New Holland but in year 1997 company sold some imported tractors with 70 hp engine. On the other hand John Deere also decided to sell tractors in India and started a joint venture with L & T company and started to manufacture tractor with brand name John Deere and L & T on with black color on engine, transmission & rear end of tractor while green color on bonnet & mudguards and yellow color on rims. At that time those tractors had perfect build quality. Later Preet which is also Indian company came in the tractor manufacturing line. In year Ford motor decided to sell their tractor business and wanted to stay only in car industry, then Fiat showed interest in this company and purchased the ford tractor company. Here collaboration with Escorts was finished but Escort got some rights after completion of this agreement and launched their new tractors Farmtrac in tractor market, design of these tractors was totally based on old ford tractors that was farmers showed interest to buy them and on the other hand Fiat decided to use to ford brand name on new holland tractors up to year 2002. As time goes more and more companies came this business, many of them were Indian companies while some were foreign. Some of these companies achieved success to deepen their roots while some failed and shut down completely.
Rustom, Harsha, Pittie and Panther were some tractors companies which are closed today and rarely seen in market. In year 2016 HMT tractor company also shut down by the government. In year 2022 according to TREM IV pollution norms government has ordered tractor companies to upgrade their tractors according to these norms and as a result companies introduced new technology called Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) technology in their tractors. Here whole information will be provided regarding these tractors and old tractors, here are some CRDI tractors launched by the companies.

New one model: LS U 60 Turbo tractor full specifications

List of Eicher models in India

List of CRDI tractors in India

HMT tractor models

Some unique models

Famous models:

Companies:

Invention of world’s first tractor

The invention of world’s first tractor was done in year 1892 in which a steam engine was used and later this tractor was named as Waterloo Boy. Later petrol and kerosene engine based tractors were introduced in industry and finally in year 1927 we got our first diesel engine tractor which was invented by Casini brothers. This was a 40 hp tractor and maximum road speed 15 kmph. With time there were regular changes in tractor design and new features were added by the companies to make tractors more comfortable, powerful & fuel efficient and to make technical advance. Later in year 1952 we got our world’s first 4 wheel drive tractor which was also invented by the Casini brother’s company which was an Italian company. At the same there were other companies which were struggling for success in tractor industry and many of them survived and some combined in groups.

To be continued…..

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