BROOKVILLE — On Friday afternoon August 10, 1906, about 125 people witnessed the Case Plow test which was conducted under the management of the Farmers Supply Co.

The test was made to demonstrate that the Sulkey plow, made by J.I. Case people, pulled easier and did more work with the same amount of energy applied as the walking plow.

After the test was made, a man employed by the Case Plow Co. was hitched to the Sulkey plow and dragged it about 20 feet, plowing the ground to a depth of five inches. One of the principal features was the easy draft the Triumph Sulkey Plow was drawn by one man cutting and turning a full sized furrow.

Many said it couldn’t be done without a block and tackle, but the man proved them wrong.

This test was made in Brookville on the Levi Baker farm at the end of Baker Street and was between the Triumph Sulkey Plow 16 inch and the J. I. Case steel bean walking plow, 14 inch.

The self-registering dynamometer and measurements showed the following results: Width of furrow cut: Triumph Sulkey 14.4; Walking Plow 12.2 depth of furrow cut: 7 and 7.2 square inches of earth turned.

To bring out a little more clearly the actual difference in the draft of these two plows the following comparisons were made: Based on the above showing, if the Triumph had turned a furrow 16 x 6 inches, which equaled 96 square inches it would have required 327 lbs. of draft.

To do the same work with the walking plow it required 432 lbs. The difference was in favor of the Triumph by 105 lbs.

All information and the photo for this Look at Brookville article were supplied by the Brookville Historical Society. Do you have a photo or historical information to share or add? Please contact the Brookville Historical Society at 937-833-0285 or email to [email protected].