Our engines – both built sequentially in 1926 – were used for ploughing by positioning them on either side of a field and pulling a double-ended six-share plough with wire ropes – see video below. The engines moved forward with each traverse of the plough until the end of the field was reached.
They were finally used by Nottingham City Waterworks at Stoke Bardolph, Notts.
Timeline for John Fowler & Co.
- 1886: John Fowler & Co. (Leeds) Ltd. was officially registered as a limited company, marking the formal establishment of the firm.
- 1913: The company began manufacturing road locomotives, traction engines, tractors, steam ploughing engines, and road rollers at the Steam Plough Works around 1850. The works cover over fourteen acres and employ approximately 2,800 to 3,000 men and boys, reflecting the growing demand for their engines.
- 1935: the company ceased the production of ploughing engines and produced their last steam-driven vehicle, a steam roller, in 1937.
- 1947: John Fowler & Co. merged with Marshall, Sons & Co., Ltd., forming Marshall-Fowler Ltd., ending the company’s independent operations.
- 1974: production at the Hunslet factory ceased, and manufacturing of both tracked and wheeled tractors was moved to the Marshall works at Gainsborough.
Did you know most companies like John Fowler & Co. produced steam rollers as a more efficient alternative to manual road compaction methods. They were used to compress and smooth out the surface of newly laid road materials. Road building and using engines for fairgrounds to generate power were the last use of the steam traction engine
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