Chapter 54: Tractors are also high-tech
In the warehouse at the dock, all kinds of supplies are piled up like mountains.
In addition to farm tools, the warehouse also contained some simple machine tools and several steam engines, all of which were packed in large wooden boxes.
But even so, when Zhu Xianhai entered the warehouse, he still saw a large wooden box that was seven or eight meters long and three or four meters high.
"Could it be this?"
Following Zhu Xianhai's order, the wooden box was opened, and a huge black object appeared before his eyes.
"that's it!"
Staring at this black thing, Fang Zhanbo asked in confusion.
"My Lord, what is this? It looks like a steam engine in a sawmill."
The steam engine used in the sawmill was brought over by Elizabeth earlier and was also Nanhua’s earliest “industrial machinery”.
"this……"
Zhu Xianhai smiled.
"It's similar to a steam engine, but this is a steam tractor!"
Almost the moment Zhu Xianhai saw the "steam tractor" in the "Life Mall", he immediately chose to place an order.
Tractor!
A symbol of agricultural mechanization!
Can't do without!
Of course, this is steam, the kind that heats water or burns coal, not oil, and it uses a steam engine.
"Tractor? What's a tractor?"
Fang Zhanbo asked doubtfully.
"It's the thing that plows the fields."
"Can it plow the field?"
"How can such a lump of iron be used to plow the land?"
"How many cows would it take to pull it?"
Zhu Xianhai was too lazy to explain to them, and directly ordered them to bring firewood. After purchasing the steam tractor, he had an additional skill in operating the steam tractor in his mind.
"Go get some water and fill it up first..."
Compared with later tractors, the operation of steam tractors is extremely cumbersome. Even this tractor equipped with a miniaturized steam engine was invented by Arlat of France as early as 1856.
After years of improvement, the technology of this steam tractor has become very mature, with greater horsepower and slower travel speed. However, the steam tractors of this period were still bulky and expensive, inconvenient to use, and often required several people to operate. They were only suitable for farming on vast fields, and were generally unaffordable for individual farmers. Therefore, they were not quickly promoted. Farmers made a small calculation and decided that it was more cost-effective to use horse-drawn plows.
However, that is for ordinary individual farmers. It is different with Zhu Xianhai. There are no individual farmers here. Outside Nanhua is the vast Pampas Plain, which is where tractors can show their capabilities.
From filling the water tank, to adjusting the instrument, to lighting the firewood to boil the water and increase the pressure, it took nearly an hour to prepare before this steam tractor could be put into use. Zhu Xianhai, who was personally controlling the tractor, said to Wang Anning who was standing by.
"You will be in charge of firing up the boiler later."
"okay!"
Wang Anning responded and looked curiously at his boss standing next to him, watching him pull the operating lever.
"Bang..."
With the roar of the machine, the steam tractor moved in full view !
"He moved, he moved..."
Listening to the roar of the drive shaft, the onlookers all opened their eyes wide in surprise.
“It’s still a bit slow!”
Zhu Xianhai muttered to himself, turning the steering wheel hard.
But even so, he knew that steam tractors were definitely the "black technology" of the First Industrial Revolution. Historically, they were not taken seriously because ordinary small farmers could not afford them. But if they could be used properly, they would surely become a booster for large-scale agricultural reclamation.
"Oh my God, how can it run away?"
With their eyes wide open, Fang Zhanbo and the others were all stunned. Not only them, but even William Hansen, Brian, Leonardo and the others were also stunned.
Steam tractor... for these old-fashioned people in South America, it is definitely "black technology".
"beep!"
When the steam tractor's whistle sounded in Nanhua, Zhu Xianhai, the first tractor driver in Nanhua, looked at the people attracted by the whistle. He drove the clumsy-looking tractor across the gravel road all the way to the end of the field and gave orders.
"Hang up the plow."
The iron plow is specially made for tractors. Unlike the horse-drawn wheel plow, this iron plow has eight iron plowshares and can plow nearly three meters wide at a time.
"Can you pull such a heavy thing?"
Under the gaze of the crowd, the huge eight-share iron plow was soon hooked onto the steam tractor, with a person standing on each plowshare.
"Boss, is this okay?"
In response to other people's doubts, Zhu Xianhai, who was standing on the steam tractor that was almost as tall as a house, smiled and did not say anything. Instead, he blew the whistle again.
"beep……"
The long whistle sounded, like the sound of a train starting, and the black smoke from the chimney hit his face. Although the smell of the smoke was pungent, Zhu Xianhai still looked very proud. As a man, he always has an admiration for the power of machinery.
Perhaps this steam tractor is not as good as the crawler tractors of later generations, but it is large enough and complicated enough to operate.
Finally, the tractor started to move. As it pulled the plowshare, it cut through the land as easily as cutting butter. The slaves who were driving the horses to cultivate the land nearby were astonished to see the giant tractor slowly catch up with them. Its speed was neither fast nor slow, but it could easily cultivate a large area of land.
"Did you see that?"
Looking back at the nearly two-kilometer-long land that had been plowed behind him, the land covered with weeds had been turned over by the plow. The horse-drawn plows had long been thrown away to who knows where. The people following the tractor looked at the plowed black soil in surprise.
This is too fast!
"This is a tractor. As long as there is water, firewood and coal, it can work day and night, plowing the soil, loosening the soil and sowing seeds. It can do anything. It is a machine! This is the power of a machine!"
Compared with ordinary steam engines, the impact that steam tractors brought to people was unprecedented. Looking at the stunned looks of the onlookers, Zhu Xianhai knew that they were shocked, and this was exactly the effect he wanted!
Jumping off the tractor and looking at Zhu Xianhai whose face was blackened by the smoke, a Chinese worker patted the huge iron thing hard and said.
"Boss, even if he has an iron tool, I'm afraid that our land in Nanhua will not be enough for him to plow for a few days. The horse and everything else will become useless rubbish..."
His words made Zhu Xianhai burst into laughter.
"Not enough land? How can there not be enough land? Let me tell you, Nanhua has a lot of land!"
