Agricultural Tractors - France: Illustrated History Books & Guides

Histoire des batteuses de nos campagnes

Thresher, beater, battery: depending on the region, it changed its name and its servants were called "the beaters". The images disappear, but the memories remain. Let's hurry, because the storytellers of memories will also disappear in turn, and there will only be a few yellowed photos and a few machines and documents left in some collectors or museums, or even in some enthusiasts!

This book offers you an overview of the history of the different types of threshers in France, from the first threshing machines of the 18th century to the Trente Glorieuses.

Product details

Author:	P. Vaissband
Details:	160 pages, 9 x 10.6 in (24 x 27 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	300 b&w and 70 color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2007)
ISBN:	9782726887707

La nouvelle encyclopedie des tracteurs fabriqués en France

This new color edition of the French tractor encyclopedia traces the history of agricultural machines from their origins to the present. The first edition, published in 1998, listed over 200 brands using advertisements and trade magazines, becoming a key reference for enthusiasts.

Interest in vintage machinery has since uncovered many artisanal brands, often unknown and never advertised, preserved by collectors across France. This updated edition adds over fifty new brands and numerous previously unpublished photos, showing the ingenuity of designers from the late 19th century to today.

The book covers major French brands - Renault, Société française, Someca, Vendeuvre - as well as foreign manufacturers producing in France, such as Austin, Massey-Harris, International Harvester, Minneapolis-Moline, Case, Ferguson, or Massey-Ferguson. Lesser-known brands like Patissier Énergic, MAP, Sabatier Le Pratique, Sift, Champion, Labourier, Saint-Chamond, Latil, Babiole, Eco, and Maci are also included.

Finally, the book pays tribute to countless artisans who built tractors, often for a brief period, to meet the needs of an evolving agriculture. This edition provides a complete overview of this unique mechanical heritage for all classic tractor enthusiasts.

Product details

Author:	Christian Descombes
Details:	336 pages, 12.2 x 9.25 in (31 x 23.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2012)
ISBN:	9782726895962

Les tracteurs des 30 glorieuses

The 30 glorious years: a prosperous period for industry but also for agriculture. As soon as the Marshall Plan was put in place, farmers were able to equip themselves and see their profession evolve thanks to the use of agricultural machines that they helped to improve by testing them.
In this book, for the first time, are brought together the documents presenting the most emblematic and innovative tractors that have marked the agricultural world and allowed the expansion of its mechanization.

A collector's book with 200 models and 50 French brands!

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	400 pages, 12 x 8.5 x 1.18 in (30.5 x 21.5 x 3 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2021)
ISBN:	9782491072360

Tracteurs oubliés de nos campagnes 1919-1924

This second volume deals with French tractors and machines of all kinds that followed one another after 1918. In the aftermath of the Great War, in 1919, there was an explosion of models. Manufacturers had indeed gone very far in innovations, sometimes incredible...

The last chapter, devoted to "prototypes, small series and ephemeral tractors" is a perfect illustration of this! Competition between manufacturers was fierce, each had to find its specialty to survive...
Car manufacturers started manufacturing agricultural tractors: Renault, Peugeot, Citroën, Delahaye, De-Dion, D.F.P., Fiat, Austin...

Pages of the book "Tracteurs oubliés de nos campagnes 1919-1924"

Everyone will find what they are looking for in this reference book, progressing through the pages in the discovery of new models and the men who designed and built these tractors. The evolution of agricultural machinery is underway, the models follow one another.
Illustrated with more than 600 old documents, this work restores the history and atmosphere of the time.
The authors are all three farmers from Seine-et-Marne, motivated by the same passion. They collect old tractors of all kinds, old plows, brochures, etc.

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert, Marc Solvet, Philippe Abit
Details:	288 pages, 12.2 x 9.25 in (31 x 23.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	350 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2010)
ISBN:	9782726894729

Le matériel agricole de nos anciens (1) - Les travaux agricoles d'automne 1875-1990

Bernard Gibert is used to showing us treasures in terms of tractors and combine harvesters. This time, he chose to show us what equipment was used on farms.
Machines pulled by horses or tractors: what were their uses? How did they change production practices? To what extent did they improve working conditions for farmers?

Through these tools, Bernard Gibert still tells us about the innovations in the agricultural world, which he remains deeply passionate about.
Let yourself be carried away by these unique documents which show you the fabulous technical developments over a whole century.

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	477 pages, 12 x 8.5 x 1.26 in (30.5 x 21.5 x 3.2 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2021)
ISBN:	9782491072353

Les tracteurs de nos voisins (1930-1975) - Allemagne

How did foreign tractors advance agriculture in France? This time, Bernard Gibert immerses us in documents that are still as unpublished as ever and will allow us to discover the technology of German machines.
More than 200 rare and informative brochures on what agriculture was like in France from the 1930s to the 1970s!

Pages of the book "Les tracteurs de nos voisins (1930-1975) - Allemagne"

The most widely distributed German brands in France in the 1930s were Deutz, Fendt, Lanz and Hanomag. Known for being of good quality, these tractors were very popular. But from the beginning of the Second World War until a few years after the end of the war, they were banned from sale.
They were once again authorized for importation into France from 1950. Once again widely distributed, they experienced a boom among French farmers who were also able to discover models from Porsche or Allgaier. Apart from Deutz or Fendt, the other German brands have now disappeared.

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	400 pages, 12 x 8.7 x 1.3 in (30.5 x 22 x 3.3 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2018)
ISBN:	9791090213821

Tracteurs oubliés de nos campagnes 1896-1918

Relive the history of these old tractors that were first powered by petroleum products and not steam.
Before 1914, these tractors were often called "petrol-powered automobile tractors". First, there were all the derivatives of the various earth-digging machines: the rotary plough, the pickaxe, the motor-plough, the self-propelled plough, the cultivator, etc. Then came other machines powered by cables: the winch tractor, the tractor-tow. Then came the automobile plough, the motor-plough, the automobile hoe, etc. And then the crumbler, the polycultor as well as the tracked tractor, the articulated tractor and the vineyard tractor.

At that time, tractors had as many different shapes and sizes as possible, many were mounted on three wheels. Some tractors looked like real monsters, others were very small. The main bases of mechanics were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. The First World War having devastated the soils, the re-cultivation of abandoned lands or those located on the sites of combat favored the development of exploitation equipment.

Through a magnificent collection of more than 550 unpublished period photos, discover for the first time these fantastic machines and tractors mounted on iron wheels. Also discover the work of men, the main players in the development of machinery, who are not forgotten in this book either.

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert, Marc Solvet, Philippe Abit
Details:	288 pages, 12.2 x 9.25 in (31 x 23.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	560 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2008)
ISBN:	9782726888032

Travaux des champs, les quatre saisons

The 20th century saw a real revolution in the agricultural world with mechanization. In France, the latter only appeared after the First World War, following the massacre of peasants in the hell of Verdun, the Chemin des Dames or La Marne. However, it was not until the end of the 1950s that the last draft horses disappeared from our fields.
Since then, increasingly powerful, increasingly modern and increasingly comfortable machines, but also increasingly sophisticated and spectacular, have invaded our plains.

Through the four seasons, the ploughing and the harvesting, you will find there the image of a resolutely modern agricultural France, which has nevertheless retained all its beauty and romanticism.

Product details

Author:	B. Crochet
Details:	192 pages, 9 x 10.6 in (24 x 27 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	50 b&w and 300 color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2008)
ISBN:	9782726887752

Attelées

How to promote the magnificent French horse-drawn heritage, witness to the needs, tastes and know-how of an era? By revealing its wealth and past prestige!
This beautiful, highly illustrated book is a rich inventory of around thirty families of vehicles and their teams, chosen to be typical of a region and an activity. A real dive into the hard-working France of yesteryear!

Part of the book is devoted to rural vehicles and teams: farm carts, wine carts, farm dumpers, trolleys, triqueballes, hand trucks, logging trucks, flour trucks, livestock trucks, planters, traveling sales cars.

A second part focuses on urban vehicles and teams: trucks, sales cars, removal cars, haquets, brewers', lemonade and wine merchants' cars, ice boxes, milkmen's cars, market gardeners' cars, coal miners' cars, plasterers' cars, construction site vehicles (tar spreaders, rollers, paving and sand dumpers, stone dumpers, etc.), road maintenance and public hygiene (torpedo boats, sweepers, road workers' dumpers, rubbish and bulky waste removal, emptying cars), exceptional convoys.

Product details

Author:	Etienne Petitclerc
Details:	341 pages, 11.8 x 8.5 x 0.98 in (30 x 21.5 x 2.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2016)
ISBN:	9791090213548

L'aube du tracteur en France - catalogue complet de tous les tracteurs agricoles (1917)

In 1917, while the Great War was still devastating our countryside and France was still a country whose rural population used only human labor and animal traction, an extraordinary work appeared: the complete catalog of all agricultural tractors and automotive equipment allowing motorized cultivation: it was a vision of the future made accessible to all.
No fewer than 177 different machines were thus offered to farmers, who, once peace returned, would have to imagine their traditional activity differently.

Today, more than a century after its publication, this work of synthesis has lost none of its documentary interest and has taken on a historical value of its own. The enthusiast of agricultural machinery will discover the incredible diversity of tractors and agricultural machines already available at the time.

The majority of these are machines from across the Atlantic, with famous names (Case, International Harvester, Caterpillar, etc.) or lesser-known ones; British models are also present (Fowler, Aveling & Porter, etc.), while a few names from continental Europe stand out, such as our national Vierzon and the Lanz "across the way". This is truly the Dawn of the tractor in France. Where it all started.

Product details

Author:	C. Chauveau
Details:	272 pages, 9.1 x 5.9 in (23 x 15 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	185 b&w photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Histoire & Collections (F, 2007)
ISBN:	9782352500605

Le matériel agricole de nos anciens (2) - Les travaux d'hiver 1875-1990

Bernard Gibert is used to showing us treasures in terms of tractors and combine harvesters. This time, he chose to show us what equipment was used on farms.
Machines pulled by horses or tractors: what were their uses? How did they change production practices? To what extent did they improve working conditions for farmers?

Through these tools, Bernard Gibert still tells us about the innovations of the agricultural world, which he remains definitely passionate about.
Let yourself be carried away by these unique documents that show you what the fabulous technical developments were over a whole century.
In volume 1, he introduced us to the equipment used during autumn work. Here we are, in volume two, in the middle of winter work!

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	424 pages, 12 x 8.5 x 1.26 in (30.5 x 21.5 x 3.2 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2022)
ISBN:	9782491072681

Les ancêtres de nos tracteurs 1900-1935

An unpublished work! It presents, from very rare documents, 100 brands and 200 models built and sold from 1900 to 1935. Forgotten and incredible machines!
Very few collectors have these period brochures. They bring back to life a period of major technological evolution that profoundly changed the lives of farmers.

Pages of the book "Les ancêtres de nos tracteurs 1900-1935"

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	383 pages, 12 x 8.5 x 1.18 in (30.5 x 21.5 x 3 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	extensively illustrated
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2016)
ISBN:	9791090213562

Les tracteurs à chenilles à la conquête des campagnes françaises (Tome 1) 1915-1975

Tractors were inspired by technologies from military technology, including tracked vehicles. How did they impact agriculture? How did farmers preserve their soil?

Bernard Gibert, thanks to his rare and precious period documents, continues his ambition to trace the entire history of the mechanization of modern agriculture. So come and climb aboard these legendary tractors with us!

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	400 pages, 12 x 8.7 x 0.75 in (30.5 x 22 x 1.9 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2019)
ISBN:	9782491072049

Les tracteurs à chenilles à la conquête des fermes françaises 1915-1985 (Tome 2)

"After publishing a book on crawler tractors requested by many passionate collectors, I was surprised by the success of this first volume. It made me want to continue my research and I found unpublished documents allowing me to complete this first opus with rare models such as the Italian Oto or Landini semi-diesel, like the German Lanz or even the Americans (notably Caterpillar)."

"I also found some among French brands such as:
- the Vidal straddle tractor with tracks,
- the Vermorel and the bizarre Licorne,
- the first model from Renault dating from 1919, type GP,
- some models built until the beginning of the Second World War.

The tractors that I have selected in this 2nd volume were mainly used:
- in the vineyards for their maintenance and for breaking up the soil in preparation for planting the vines,
- in large-scale crops for plowing, subsoiling and stubble cultivation. "

Bernard Gibert, thanks to his rare and precious period documents, continues his ambition to retrace the entire history of the mechanization of modern agriculture. So come and climb aboard these legendary tractors with us!

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	330 pages, 12 x 8.5 x 0.98 in (30.5 x 21.5 x 2.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2020)
ISBN:	9782491072193

Les tracteurs de nos voisins (1930-1975) - Grande-Bretagne, Amérique du Nord, Europe du Nord

How did foreign tractors advance agriculture in France? This time, Bernard Gibert immerses us in documents that are still as unpublished as ever that will allow us to discover the technology of English, American and Canadian machines.

More than 200 rare and informative brochures on what agriculture was like in France from the 1930s to the 1970s! American tractors with iron wheels can be found on French soil during and after the First World War.
However, the first tractors with pneumatic wheels arrived in the early 1930s and took off after the Marshall Plan. At the time, for the price of a horse, you could invest in the purchase of an American tractor. This also somewhat undermined the trade of French brands.

Pages of the book "Les tracteurs de nos voisins (1930-1975) - Grande-Bretagne, Amérique du Nord, Europe du Nord"

Concerning tractors from Great Britain, if they had their own brands, such as Nuffield or David Brown, they were often American models built in English factories and imported into France.
Tractors from northern European countries had a reputation for being of excellent quality, especially those of the Volvo and Bolinders brands. Belgian models, little known in France, were often produced in small quantities. As a result, these tractors from northern Europe were often very expensive to buy.
Belgian tractors were not very widespread while Swedish brands were very well distributed. These tractors, from northern countries, are still known today under the Valtra brand.

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	425 pages, 12 x 8.7 x 1.38 in (30.5 x 22 x 3.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2018)
ISBN:	9791090213838

Les tracteurs de nos voisins (1930-1975) - Suisse, Italie, Espagne, pays de l'Est

How did foreign tractors advance agriculture in France? This time, Bernard Gibert immerses us in documents that are still as unpublished as ever, which will allow us to discover the technology of Italian, Spanish and Eastern European machines.
More than 400 rare and informative brochures on what agriculture was like in France from the 1930s to the 1970s!

Product details

Author:	Bernard Gibert
Details:	400 pages, 12 x 8.5 x 1.1 in (30.5 x 21.5 x 2.8 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions France Agricole (F, 2019)
ISBN:	9782491072032

Tracteurs

How can we think of the contemporary agricultural world without imagining a tractor, often brightly colored, boldly crossing a freshly plowed field... An evocation closely linked to our landscapes. Without a doubt, the tractor revolutionized the French rural world at the dawn of the 1950s, pushing the draft horse that then took on the work of the land towards the stable: it was the advent of the power of the mechanical horse.

This arrival quickly turned into a revolution: fewer arms, more worked surfaces, a race for increasing productivity. Initially small in size, imported from across the Atlantic, the machines gained in size and power, spearheading galloping mechanization; our industry then produced them in large numbers.

Those familiar with the rural world see again the Farmall from Mc Cormick-Deering, the "little grey" from Ferguson, the valiant Pony from Massey-Harris and the Renault D22 at work in the French countryside...
At the end of the 1970s, 95% of French farms were equipped with at least one tractor, marking a trend that is still strong today.

Product details

Author:	Francis Dréer
Details:	285 pages, 11.6 x 9.7 x 0.79 in (29.5 x 24.5 x 2 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Terres Editions (F, 2019)
ISBN:	9782355302909