In 1903 the firm built fifteen tractors (a term coined by Hart and Parr), and the 14,000 pound #3 is the oldest surviving internal combustion engine tractor in the United States.
The tractor worked on the George Mitchell farm near Charles City for twenty-three years.
Realizing the historic importance of Hart-Parr #3, the Oliver Tractor Corporation (which had absorbed Hart-Parr) purchased the tractor and used it to demonstrate the quality of the firm's products.
When it arrived at the National Museum of American History, it was painted solid black and did not have a canopy. The canopy was reconstructed using 100-year old railroad timbers that were ripped for the frame.
Despite its unauthentic appearance, it remained on exhibit for years. In 2003 the Smithsonian agreed to a restoration plan, funded by the Hart-Parr/Oliver Collectors Association.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_857022
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver at a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction.
Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially (and originally) tillage.
The word tractor was taken from Latin, being the agent noun of trahere "to pull". The first recorded use of the word meaning "an engine or vehicle for pulling wagons or plows" occurred in 1896, from the earlier term "traction engine"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor
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