Skip to main content

Sandusky

Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Materials Handling & ExcavationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1902Hancock Historical MuseumFindlayState: OHZip: 45840Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/materials-handling-and-excavation/-133-buckeye-steam-traction-ditcher-%281902%29Creator: Hill, James

During the post-Civil War era, efforts to cultivate the land for higher crop yields resulted in the digging of thousands of miles of ditches to improve land drainage. Accurately graded ditches were needed for open drainage, pipeline trenches and placement of underground agricultural drainage tile. Teams of skilled workers laid out the direction and gradient of a ditch and dug it out with pick and shovel. The Black Swamp area, where Lake Erie drains into northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, was the center of much of the U.S. ditching activity.

YearAdded:
1988
Image Caption: Buckeye Steam Traction DitcherEra_date_from: 1902
Subscribe to Sandusky

Innovations

During the post-Civil War era, efforts to cultivate the land for higher crop yields resulted in the digging of thousands of miles of ditches to improve land drainage. Accurately graded ditches were needed for open drainage, pipeline trenches and placement of underground agricultural drainage…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.