Find #14 · invention
A gasoline traction engine from Sterling, Illinois was already working fields by 1895
The illustration represents a gasoline traction engine which has been used in the field for several seasons, doing most efficient service. It is manufactured by the Charter Gas Engine Company, of Sterling, IIL.
Quote check Found word for word on the page.
What the AI says
Scientific American reports a gasoline traction engine made by the Charter Gas Engine Company of Sterling, Illinois, which it says had been used in the field for several seasons. The notice describes an all iron and steel frame, roller bearings on the rear axle and a spring-mounted platform. It suggests early internal-combustion farm tractors were in practical use earlier than many accounts imply, though the page gives no performance figures or sales numbers.
- How forgotten?
- little-known · Charter gas engines are known to historians of early internal-combustion tractors, but this specific 'Sterling' traction engine and its seasons of field use are not widely remembered.
- Web check
- Documented today · The Charter Gas Engine Co. of Sterling, IL is documented on Vintage Machinery and in Farm Collector's article on John Charter, including its gasoline engines and early tractor work. I did not confirm the specific 1895 illustration, but the company and its early traction engine are covered. (10 sources seen)
- Wikipedia
- No matching article
- Significance
- 6 / 10
- Cost to find
- $0.07 (reading the page $0.0006, checking $0.07)
Source
Scientific American 1895-05-11: Vol 72 Iss 19 (72), 1895-05-11