Today’s world of mechanized farming would lead you to believe that man has been ripping around in massive tractors and machinery for hundreds of years when that really is not the case. While there have certainly been tractors for 100 years or so, there wasn’t a huge push for everyone to have them until right after WWII. Before the war many small famers were using teams of horses to do their work. Yes, those horses were essentially dragging machines behind them but they were the “engine” of the typical farm back then. Why? Tractors were really expensive and as pricey as horses were, guys were comfortable with using them. It took some really smart guys to come up with an awesome if ultimately short lived solution to bridging the horse/tractor gap for farmers. They designed a tractor that literally operated like a horse. Amazing.

Roughly 100 Elmco Power-Horse tractors were sold before production stopped in 1941 to concentrate on the war effort. Supposedly about 55 of these babies still exist today. One of them has come up for sale on eBay and we think it is pretty neat. Powered by an Allis-Chalmers Model B gas engine and packing a three speed manual transmission, this tractor was operated by reins just like a horse. Snap them and give them a tug straight back and off you went. Want to go left? Pull left and this thing would skid steer like a Bobcat. Want to go backwards? Pull hard backwards and the unit would back up. Perfect, right?

It is always fascinating to see how human adopt and adapt to technology. Some resist it to the bitter end, others cannot have it soon enough, and for the most part people are leery of doing new stuff. This was the way to bridge that fear and get farmers to replace their horses as they could no longer do the job or as they passed away. If WWII had not come in and ended production we think that the Elmco company could have sold hundreds of these units before they too became obsolete.

Oh, if you are wondering where the driver sits, he rides on whatever this is pulling. Remember, it was designed to use the same attachments guys were pulling with their animals and they often had a seating position for the operator.

Check out the photos and then hit the eBay link to see way more –

eBay Link: 1940 Power-Horse tractor for sale – neat bridge technology