Balance ploughs and steam ploughing
A balance plough is a two-ended plough, built like a see-saw, that was pulled back and forth across a field on a steel cable by steam ploughing engines. One set of bodies works while the other is held up in the air, so the plough never needs turning round.
How it works
In the usual two-engine system a ploughing engine stands on each headland, facing across the field. Each has a large winding drum, most often set horizontally under the boiler, holding several hundred metres of steel rope. One engine winds in and drags the plough towards it while the other lets its rope pay out. At the end of the pull the roles swap, and both engines creep forward along the headland ready for the next pass.
The balance plough sits on a two-wheeled axle with right-hand bodies on one half of the frame and left-hand bodies on the other. When it reaches an engine the frame is tipped like a see-saw, lifting the set that has just worked and dropping the other set into the ground. Because the two sets turn soil in opposite directions, every furrow falls the same way and the field is left even, with no ridges or hollows. A man rode on the plough to steer it; steering gear was added in 1865.
Main types
- Two-engine tackle: A pair of self-moving engines, one on each headland. It cost more but was quick to set up and became the standard British method.
- Roundabout system: A single engine, often with a double drum, worked a rope round pulleys and a movable anchor at the far side of the field. Cheaper, but slower to set up and move.
- Anti-balance plough: Introduced in 1884 to stop the plough lifting out of the ground in light soil.
- Turning cultivator: The same cable tackle pulled big tined cultivators, steered round at each end by a Y-shaped hitch.
Why use cables?
Early steam engines were far too heavy to drive across soft ploughland. Leaving them on the headland kept their weight, and the trampling of horses, off the field. David Greig, Fowler's partner, argued in 1867 that cable work went deeper, moved faster and let a farmer wait for the soil to be in the right state. A set typically turned five or six furrows at once at around 3 to 4 mph, against one or two furrows behind horses.
A short history
John Fowler, born in Melksham in 1826, began with drainage ploughs. The Royal Agricultural Society of England offered a prize for steam cultivation, and Fowler won the £500 award at Chester in 1858. A steel rope made for him in 1857 lasted over 1,000 acres where soft iron wire managed about 200. His double-engine system was shown at Worcester in 1863 and swept the prizes at Newcastle in 1864, the year he died aged 38. The balance plough idea is credited to Greig, and the first was built by Ransomes at Ipswich.
Most work was done by contractors: a crew of four men and a boy who lived in a living van that travelled with the engines. By 1879 there were an estimated 1,623 ploughing engines in Britain, and Fowler built the large majority of cable engines sold here. Tractors took over from the 1920s, much old tackle was scrapped in the 1930s, and the last commercial sets worked into the early 1960s.
Seeing one today
The Steam Plough Club, founded in 1966, keeps tackle working, runs ploughing competitions and publishes Steam Plough Times. Most survivors are Fowlers, with Burrell, Howard and McLaren engines also preserved. Keep well back at demonstrations: a snapped cable can whip across the ground with real force.
Questions people ask
How did steam ploughing work?
Two steam engines stood on opposite sides of the field and took turns to wind a plough across it on a steel cable. The engines stayed on the headlands and moved along after each pass.
Why is it called a balance plough?
The frame pivots on its axle like a see-saw. Tipping it at each end lifts one set of bodies out and drops the other set in, so it can plough in both directions without turning.
Who invented steam ploughing?
Several inventors tried it, but John Fowler of Leeds made it practical in the 1850s and 1860s, and his company built most British ploughing engines.
Where can I see steam ploughing?
Steam rallies and Steam Plough Club events in Britain still run working demonstrations with preserved Fowler engines and balance ploughs.
Related equipment
Sources
- Steam ploughing (Museum of English Rural Life)
- Steam plowing and John Fowler (Farm Collector)
- John Fowler, agricultural engineer (Wikipedia)
- Steam Plough Club
- Fowler Balance Plough (Brighton Toy and Model Museum)
Last checked 2026-11-01