What's the world's biggest tractor? Weighing in at over 45 tonnes, you won't see this machine in your local field

What's the world's biggest tractor? Weighing in at over 45 tonnes, you won't see this machine in your local field

The Big Bud 747 certainly lives up to its name as the largest farming tractor in the world

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Petrol-powered tractors revolutionised farming in Britain when they started to appear in the late 1880s. No longer did you need a horse or stationary steam engine, so you could glide over muddy fields with comparative ease.

But what is the biggest tractor ever made?

The world’s biggest tractor is the Big Bud 747 which was built in 1977.

It was made for Californian cotton farmers Elmer and Melvin Rossi by the Northern Manufacturing Company in Montana.

It’s 4.3m high and 8.2m wide, weighing 45,359kg with a full tank – which holds 3,800L of diesel.

Originally built with 760 horsepower, it was later increased and now has 1,100 horsepower.

After being used on two more farms, it was taken out of the fields in 2009 and into museums, before being used again in 2020. It belongs once again to former owners Robert and Randy Williams of Big Sandy, Montana.

Big Bud 747
The Big Bud 747 is the world's largest tractor. Credit: Myron Reynard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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