Arable Farming, Ploughing Equipment Usher's steam plough (charrue), 1849

Arable Farming, Ploughing Equipment Usher's steam plough (charrue), 1849. Model. In the mid 19th century many efforts were made to design steam-driven implements for ploughing or tilling the soil. One example is the steam 'plough' patented by James Usher in 1849. Power from the engine was transmitted through a gearing system to the shares mounted on a central spindle. The resulting action of the ploughshares tended to push the complete apparatus forward in a similar way to the propulsion of boats by paddle wheels. Although the concept was highly thought of and publicised at the Great Exhibition in 1851, it was a commercial failure. Photographie. ©SSPL/Science Museum