A tractor is a powerful vehicle designed to pull heavy equipment and machinery, most commonly used on farms. Unlike a car built for speed, a tractor is built for strength. Its large rear wheels and strong engine allow it to drag plows through tough soil, haul wagons loaded with hay bales, or power machines that plant and harvest crops.

Before tractors were invented in the late 1800s, farmers relied on horses and oxen to pull their equipment. A single modern tractor can do the work that once required dozens of animals, transforming how efficiently farms operate.

While most tractors work on farms, you'll also see them on construction sites moving earth and materials, or used by highway departments to mow grass and plow snow. The largest tractors stand taller than most adults and have wheels nearly as tall as a grown person. Some specialized tractors can even be as small as a riding lawn mower, but they all share that same core purpose: using engine power to pull, push, or operate heavy equipment that would be impossible to move by human strength alone.