Chapter 833 Tractor
The 19th century was a tragic century, especially for the indigenous peoples of colonial regions and countries. The United States and East Africa were both typical countries that were transformed from colonies. When East Africa was persecuting the indigenous peoples of southern Africa, Americans were doing the same thing.
Also in 1890, the Battle of Wounded Knee, also known as the "Wounded Knee Massacre," broke out in the United States. On December 29, 1890, the Battle of Wounded Knee was a landmark event in American history. It was the last armed conflict between the United States and the Indians, and it brought a tragic end to the Indian Wars that had lasted for more than 300 years.
Sure enough, compared with his peers, Ernst's way of treating black people seemed extremely "merciful". After all, compared with the massacre, it was always more "humanitarian".
However, this also meant that it would be difficult for American Indians to gain any influence from then on. The United States completely eliminated the resistance of the local indigenous peoples, and it would take even longer in East Africa.
…
Port of Maputo.
As usual, a merchant ship flying the East African flag docked at the port of Maputo, which should not have attracted any attention, but something different obviously appeared at the port of Maputo today.
The East African Defense Force blocked the port and then moved a lot of big guys off the ship, or rather, drove off a lot of big guys.
"Thump, thump, thump..." Thick black smoke and huge noise were heard. There were eight tractors lined up in a row at the dock. Someone who was knowledgeable would definitely recognize that they were "tractors."
It’s just that this is the world’s earliest internal combustion engine-powered tractor, not the traditional steam tractor. As East Africa’s “cutting-edge technology”, it makes sense for the army to provide escort.
"Captain Coles, I'm sorry to trouble you for the next few days. The final transportation destination of these tractors is Chokwe Town. They will be used for farm development in the Limpopo Plain. They are all very valuable items, so we cannot drive them directly to Chokwe Town. We must send them to Chokwe Town by vehicle." The driver in charge said to Captain Coles.
Looking at these "giants", Captain Coles was quite surprised. He had only seen tractors in newspapers before, and this was the first time he saw the real thing.
"Mr. Kessel, don't worry. We will use the army's heavy artillery vehicles to transport these big guys. It won't delay your trip."
There were quite a few people following Kaisol, including three mechanics, two engineers, a mechanical expert, and eight drivers. They were all heading to the state-owned farm in Chokwe Town. Kaisol himself was a manager of a state-owned farm in Dar es Salaam.
In this era, drivers are absolutely scarce talent. Even car drivers are extremely scarce, let alone drivers of "special vehicles" like tractors.
Later, with the cooperation of the military and Kessel's team, the tractor was moved to a large vehicle, which required eight horses to pull one.
Internal combustion engine tractors are much lighter than steam tractors. In 1890, that is, this year, Benjamin manufactured a wheeled steam engine tractor with all-metal wheels, 7.3 meters long, 60 horsepower, and a total vehicle weight of 22 tons, of which the water used to provide steam alone weighed more than two tons.
Therefore, a steam tractor is basically no different from a locomotive. Even if its weight is reduced, it is still the weight of a "small locomotive". Such a tractor is naturally not very useful for plowing the fields.
In addition, East African internal combustion engine-powered tractors use solid rubber-coated iron tires to achieve further weight reduction. As for hollow tires, it is obvious that current technology is not up to the standard for the weight of tractors. Of course, this is much lighter than all-iron wheels.
Of course, there are also crawler tractors, but unfortunately the current technology does not meet the requirements. There are more than 100 invention patents related to crawler tractors in the world, but the prototypes produced have all failed in tests.
For example, Benjamin, the American tractor developer mentioned earlier, went to Britain, a pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, in 1903 to investigate the development of crawler tractors, but was disappointed because he did not see a successful example. So he hastily ended his trip to Britain and returned to his own factory in the United States to continue developing crawler tractors.
It is only 1890 now, so it is impossible for East Africa to make breakthroughs in crawler track technology in a short period of time. However, East Africa's research on crawler tracks is currently among the best in the world.
Ernst knew the historical success of tracked tractors, especially the later application of this technology in the military, which led to the emergence of the "King of Land Warfare" tank.
So Ernst naturally would not ignore this problem. Currently, research on track structures in East Africa is mainly led by research institutes in several cities such as Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and Harare.
With direction and support, progress is naturally not slow. The Mbeya Mechanical Research Institute has taken the lead in achieving results, but it is still too early to apply tracks to special vehicles.
After all, tractor technology is not very mature now, otherwise the East African government would not have equipped these eight tractors with such a luxurious team.
Rather than saying that these eight tractors are meant to develop the southern plains of Mozambique, it would be more accurate to say that they are East Africa serving eight masters.
The performance of the next eight tractors may be unsatisfactory. There should not be too many major problems, but there will definitely be too many minor problems to give people a headache.
Because before this, the Dar es Salaam Tractor Factory had only produced prototypes and there were still many technical deficiencies, and the current main business of Dar es Salaam City is actually steam tractors.
As for internal combustion engine-powered tractors, this is a completely new track opened up in East Africa. Internal combustion engine-powered tractors performed well in the test field, but in a "wild" area like Mozambique, it is probably difficult to satisfy people.
However, there is no way around it. If East Africa wants to achieve something in the industrial field, it must dare to be the first. If the technology is not mature, it should be improved slowly. As long as there is enough time, East Africa will become a leader in this field one day.
In fact, East Africa is now far ahead. Although the technology of internal combustion engine tractors is not mature, it appeared nearly ten years earlier than in history.
The world's first gasoline tractor recognized internationally is the "No. 1" tractor manufactured by Hart and Parr in Charles City, Iowa, USA in the winter of 1901. The serial number of the machine is 1205. It was sold to farmers in July 1902 and was successfully used for 17 years.
Although East Africa's tractors are still technically questionable, they were researched early. As long as they can stand the test, East Africa will be able to overtake others in the agricultural field.
As the tractor finished loading, Kessel had people cover the body of the vehicle with rainproof cloth. From a distance, people who did not know the truth would probably think that the troops were transporting confidential items such as artillery.
"Captain Coles, I'm going to trouble you now." After confirming that there were no problems, Kessel said to Coles.
“No problem!”
So, under the escort of the National Defense Force, Kessel and his entourage, carrying East Africa's "heavy weapons", headed towards the town of Chokwe.
The establishment of the first state farm in Chokwe town also heralded the arrival of an era of great changes in agriculture in East Africa and the world. It was destined to write a brilliant chapter in the agricultural history of East Africa and was considered to be the starting point of agricultural mechanization in East Africa, thus being remembered by East Africans.
(End of this chapter)
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