Tractor use on farms in the US during WW2?

[Stanley Doble]

Let's dispel the idea that only poor farmers used horses (or mules). The size of the farm and the type of farm made more difference. The smaller farms, and the mixed farms that were most typical at that time, found horses more practical than a tractor as well as lower in cost. Not only in first cost but also in operating cost. You do not have to buy gasoline and oil for a horse, you grow your own oats and hay. You also save on fertilizer. And the horses provide their own replacements.

Giant monoculture farms as seen sometimes in the west, were more apt to use tractors exclusively.

Another factor was the age of the farmer. Those who grew up with horses and liked them, preferred to stick to what they knew. The younger generation that grew up with cars and motors, had an easier time adapting.

This is why it was not unusual to see old timers with their horses, or mules, well into the fifties, sixties and even seventies. Many of them could easily afford a tractor but never got around to buying one.

 

[MikeBravo]

After the war, many farmers in Australia made use of army surplus "Universal (also called Bren gun) carriers"

They were a tracked vehicle and very useful in the wet, also the most produced armoured vehicle in the world. I remember visiting different farms and seeing the rusting remains, many still with their tracks attached, when I was a kid in the 70's

 

[Haversack]

The last time I was up the Cariboo, (about 1998 if I remember rightly), there were a couple of Universal Carrier chassis with engines sitting by the side of the road with 'for sale' signs. It was in the town of Clinton, B. C. All the armor and body work had been stripped off.