Tractor Variety, Adoption, and Diffusion

The tractor provides an interesting example in the adoption and diffusion of technology and the contextual factors that affected it – especially when contrasted with the automobile. The first tractors were developed around 1892 and did not arrive on more than 25 percent of farms until nearly 50 years later. Automobiles, on the other hand, had about the same starting point – 1892 – and before 1919 more than 25 percent of farms boasted automobiles. This paper will explore why farmers hesitated to buy tractors even while they were snapping up automobiles, focusing particularly on the excessive variety of tractor designs available during 1916-1917