24 Sad Photos Of Tractors That Were Left Behind
One of the most common staples of a farm is the tractor, a vehicle that was designed, built, and used to aid farmers in all their various tasks on the farm, especially to help in cultivating crops. The tractor was first invented and put into use around the turn of the century, and since then the tractor has seen some significant changes.
The element of abandonment is to some even more beautiful because it adds a certain amount of reality and gravity, an evidence of the inevitable passing of time. These kinds of abandoned things are always fascinating to people, and they always will be. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most stunning photos of abandoned tractors.
24 IVY IN THE ENGINE BAY
It’s lovely to see evidence of green around this retired tractor, proving that it’s still part of a lively farmstead. The signs of mowing and care stop just around the edges of this tractor, allowing the native life to continue to grow unhindered around it. Which showcases just how old and beautiful it is.
The gentle strands of ivy climb up the rear wheels, the back side, the front tires, and up into the engine bay – contrasting the rusty, salmon-colored metal of this ancient machine. This tractor no doubt saw many years of use and rolled across countless miles of farmland, season after season.
23 STOIC IN THE GRASSLANDS
This old tractor stands tall, amongst grasses that blow gently in the summer breeze and sunshine. Left behind for decades, all that remains of this tractor are the thickest of steel pieces, which is clearly quite a lot of it.
Newer tractors, while more advanced and capable of more, are generally made with a lot less metal and lasting materials – things like bumpers and even bodywork replaced with plastic pieces. Yes, these older tractors stand the test of time, even long after they are left behind and abandoned to face the rigors of time and weather year in and year out.
22 SCRUBBY PLAINS AND RUSTED TEAL
This tractor lies abandoned amongst dry land, perhaps marking the location of an old farmstead. It’s clear that no cultivation happens here anymore, and hasn’t for quite a while. It’s clear that Now that the native vegetation had a chance to grow back unhindered – that this kind of environment was probably fairly difficult to cultivate, compared to other types of landscapes.
No doubt this tractor saw a lot of use over the years, perhaps a vital tool to aid the efforts of the farmers. In fact, it’s guaranteed that this tractor was instrumental in the success of the harvest each year.
21 VINTAGE BUT FADING
This is one seriously old tractor, one of the very first types of models to be used. The signs of the era are clear when you take note of the entirely cast iron wheels, with no kind of rubber on them at all and in fact, most pieces are made out of metal.
That paired with the general shape and the fact that it has a hand crank engine on the front of it. These old tractors helped farmers immeasurably, but they were lucky to get two or three horsepower from them.
20 PICTURESQUE WINTER SUNSET
This tractor of a unique style remains at rest, abandoned for all time, left to worsen in peace facing the sunset every evening, waiting to see it sink below the horizon, rust growing day by day.
These big-wheeled tractors allow for much more torque to be applied to the ground, especially in cases where the ground is soft, freshly tilled, and doesn’t have a lot of grip otherwise. Hence the need for such deep and aggressive tread patterns on the back ones, but not the front ones. Though soon enough those tires will be long gone, disintegrated, only leaving a steel husk behind.
19 LEFT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
This tractor has been left behind on the side of a road, to be idly admired as the cars go by, to stand the test of time and slowly decay, fall apart into pieces while no one notices how gradually it happens.
This tractor was brightly painted once, and for a long time, its life was dedicated to plowing the fields, spreading the seed, helping with the harvest, and so much more. While it serves no purpose anymore, it’s a beautiful thing to look at, and for some, it’s their favorite kind of scene.
18 A TRACTOR GRAVEYARD
These tractors have been left behind in hordes, with all of their individual parts making up a distinct landscape. PepperUrbex says about this location:
“The grounds of tractor and agricultural machinery company Meijer in Muntendam has been taken over by nature and now provides a beautiful scenery of a derelict tractor-graveyard.”
And beautiful it is indeed with the golden rays of the sun hitting it. Grass and foliage once living in summer but now dormant, growing in places around these ancient relics. That paired with the sheer amount of land sure makes for a captivating abandoned location.
17 OLD SOVIET MACHINERY
This old behemoth skeleton of tractor remains can be found somewhere in the icy wildernesses of Russia, somewhere left abandoned, forgotten, to be remembered by nobody and left to fade into nonexistence -outpacing and rampant consumerism takes first place over this machine.
A testament to the rigors of progress, and how such a technically advanced machine such as this one was one-day old news, and there was another bigger, better tractor to take its place. I’d take this one any day, though, especially for photographic ability and photos it provides.
16 PASTORAL SCENE IN SEPIA
This high-quality photo has managed to bring two farmstead elements together into one photo, where the ideas are contrasted and manifested in surprisingly similar ways.
For example, with the old tractor, it’s clear that though it’s retired and does not have any signs of care, the only reason it’s there in the first place is that it was important to the farmer at one time. The same goes for the barn, clearly in disrepair. But there’s no need to get rid of on anything on a farm, merely find a way to reuse it.
15 ICELANDIC CULTIVATION
This tractor has been left on the shore of the cold island of Iceland, where cultivating much of anything is quite a difficult task. Since its abandonment, it’s clear that mother nature and the harsh weather of the arctic circle has not been kind to this tractor, with all the glass broken out, tilted sideways, and engine exposed to the elements.
No doubt this tractor had a rough life while it was in use as the farmers squeezed every drop of vitality out of it before retiring it. Makes for a really pretty picture, though.
14 COVERED IN FOLIAGE
While this tractor had a much more active role once in its life in the cultivation and growing of plants, with tilling the soil and earth, planting new seeds, harvesting the crop, and so much more, it still is aiding just as much in the cultivation and continuation of life.
The angles and edges of the design make for a perfect place for plants to grow, especially vines. The slowly rusting and decaying iron means that the plants all around this tractor will have plenty of rich soil for a long time to come.
13 ANCIENT STEEL BRUTE CONTRAPTION
This is a rather strange looking tractor, and that’s because it was a unique kind of model of tractor. According to Reborn, this is a “TD-9 bulldozer abandoned on Devil’s Island, Wisconsin.”
The same tractor layout and engine were used to power this kind of half tractor, half bulldozer – that has clearly shown some rigorous signs of aging. Left behind in a forest means that any number of variables could mean the more rapid disintegration of a vehicle like this, and this one has seen a fair share of years, and weather.
12 ANCIENT BLACK AND WHITE
This is clearly an old tractor, a very old one at that. But it has some pretty nice tires equipped, which could possibly point to this car not in fact being abandoned at all, or perhaps only recently has this happened.
This particular model is an old Ford tractor, a little slice of US craftsmanship being put to use in a Viñedo in Queretaro, Mexico. These old tractors would probably do fairly well as re-purposed machines, I’m sure they run forever and no doubt have to hold at least a significant amount of their value.
11 LINED UP FOR BATTLE
These tractors are lined up in this field as if they were preparing for battle. The most ironic part is that these tractors and abandoned farm equipment can be found along the back roads around the area near Sparta. No, unfortunately, not Sparta, Greece, but rather the town of Sparta, in North Carolina. Close, but not quite the same.
I don’t think the farm equipment knows any better though, otherwise they wouldn’t be lined up for battle. All kidding aside, of course, this farmstead likely made the decision to move all retired farm equipment to one specific area.
10 AND LIFE GOES ON, LIKE ALWAYS
Sometimes mother nature is heartless and carries on relentlessly, with or without you there. That is definitely the case with this tractor, as it’s clearly been left abandoned quite some time ago. But instead of being left intact to dissolve in peace for centuries at a time, a tree grew up through the tire instead, splitting up the tractor and making for a really fascinating find.
I imagine it would be quite cool to find something like that in the woods somewhere. Startling as well to see a tire looped perfectly around a well-established tree.
9 THREE, TWO, ONE
These three tractors are probably put here because of a similar cause as the tractors we featured earlier, where perhaps the farmstead and the farmers all decided it would be smart to return all the old tractors to the same area or same field.
These three tractors all have been retired, clearly evident, at some point quite long ago, and all within a similar time period. Perhaps the farmstead is big enough to need three tractors in employment at the same time. In any case, these kinds of questions make exploring abandoned things so enjoyable.
8 BABY BLUE SURROUNDED BY FOLIAGE
If it weren’t for the fact that this picture was taken in the deepest parts of winter, it would be almost impossible to see that this tractor would even be there.
All those branches will be full of leaves and foliage come summer, and the only things peeping out will be a few glimpses of that gorgeous blue paint, maybe a flash of the rim, and a little bit of piping and engine components. The rest will be hidden away. And that to me, and to many fans of abandoned areas, is a really spectacular thing.
7 SURROUNDED BY NATURE
Judging by the background and the scenery all around this rather tiny tractor, this is a pretty fertile landscape. Of course, it all depends on what exactly it is these farmers and owners of this tractor were trying to grow and cultivate.
However, with evidence of good soil and substantial rainfall, it’s likely that whatever farmstead was here or still is here, does a good job with yield and return. They’ve left behind this tractor, and it may have been because they had to leave to find better land, or in all likelihood, they needed a newer and better tractor.
6 MISTY EMERALD MEADOW
There’s no doubt that this is one extraordinarily old tractor. The evidence is clear, with the steel construction of virtual element, including the wheels and fenders and everything else. There’s nothing missing on this tractor, it’s all just rusty and losing its paint.
It’s pretty incredible to see so much of a machine holding steadfast against the endless tides of time. Any kind of machine these days wouldn’t last nearly as long as something like this. Though these tractors only produced the smallest amounts of horsepower, so there has been some progress over the last century.
5 MISSING AN EYE
This old tractor already looks like a bug with two intact headlights, let alone with one of them missing. With only one headlight missing, it draws all and immediate attention to that area of the tractor, usually first.
It makes it look like some kind of strange bug-like alien creature, at least for a split second before you realize it’s just an abandoned tractor. Apart from the headlight it’s in pretty good shape, taken care of over the years but also still retired. It’d be fun to see this one in person.
4 NOT EVEN A SPRING SEAT?
You know this and other tractors its age are incredibly old, it’s easy to tell by just the accessories alone. The things like the metal spoked wheels that are quite large in diameter, the fact that there really isn’t much of a cabin at all, and there never really was one in the first place, even when it was brand new.
That all paired with the fact that the seat itself isn’t cushioned at all, merely a wobbly metal platform shaped like a seat meant to bounce slightly while plowing the ground.
3 WAIST HIGH GRASS
It must be mid-summer in Shawmut, Montana, where the picture of this abandoned and forgotten tractor has been left behind, for the ages of decay and weather to consume it, with all gone but rust and an outline of the former things that this tractor was and used to be.
This one features rubber tires, but the rest of it is still almost entirely made of steel, pointing to an older original manufacture date. Soon, these metal components will merely be a piled of disheveled rust.
2 A LAMBORGHINI TRACTOR?
Why does the front of this say “Lamborghini,” you might be wondering, “I thought they made super expensive supercars.” Well, you wouldn’t be wrong, but once upon a time, Lamborghini did more than just make some of the craziest machines of all time. In fact, the very same man who founded the car motoring branch of Lamborghini also opened a separate, smaller company that made tractors and various other types of useful machines.
Less and less is that the case these days, but they had their glory days, and this is a blast from the past.
1 ANCIENT STEEL SKELETON
This lump of rusty metal looks truly prehistoric stationed out there in the middle of a meadow, standing all alone, fearlessly facing time and weather with no protection from any of it.
It’s clear this skeleton has seen a lot over the years, though it’s capable of handling a lot more before its life is completely over. Just because this ancient tractor is retired, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer of use to the next generation. No, just the opposite, as it can lend an incredible amount of perspective to anyone who thoughtfully gazes upon it.
Sources: pepperurbex.com, fpvforums.com & wildink.wordpress.com.
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