jeffgreef
Silver Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2009
- Messages
- 189
- Location
- Plumas County, California
- Tractor
- Farmall, Gibson, Windolph, Simar, Bear Cat, Vaughan, Howard
So they say, the price of oil will top $200 a barrel within 10 years.
The president of Toyota says their company is anticipating the day that the cost of gasoline for autos will be prohibitive, so they are investing in alternative drive trains.
So, if I buy a tractor today that I want to fulfill my needs for the next 30 years, stands to reason that I'd want to do one of two things-
1-Get the cheapest, smallest I can to do the work I need to do now, and expect that I will replace it with an electric tractor in 10-20 years.
2-Get a tractor that I can most easily convert to electric at a later date.
If I get a tractor that I plan to convert, makes sense not to get a hydrostatic. Hydro is basically compensating for the problems of an internal combustion engine- the fact that you must run it at a constant rpm. With an electric motor on a gear drive, you don't need to clutch to stop and start. You have infinite speed in any gear. If the PTO runs off a separate motor, the implement stays at a constant speed no matter the tractor speed, just like hydro.
Are we all going to be talking amperage and battery capacity in a few years, rather than gear versus hydro?
Look at these electric tractors on youtube:
YouTube - Electric Tractor Development.wmv
JG
The president of Toyota says their company is anticipating the day that the cost of gasoline for autos will be prohibitive, so they are investing in alternative drive trains.
So, if I buy a tractor today that I want to fulfill my needs for the next 30 years, stands to reason that I'd want to do one of two things-
1-Get the cheapest, smallest I can to do the work I need to do now, and expect that I will replace it with an electric tractor in 10-20 years.
2-Get a tractor that I can most easily convert to electric at a later date.
If I get a tractor that I plan to convert, makes sense not to get a hydrostatic. Hydro is basically compensating for the problems of an internal combustion engine- the fact that you must run it at a constant rpm. With an electric motor on a gear drive, you don't need to clutch to stop and start. You have infinite speed in any gear. If the PTO runs off a separate motor, the implement stays at a constant speed no matter the tractor speed, just like hydro.
Are we all going to be talking amperage and battery capacity in a few years, rather than gear versus hydro?
Look at these electric tractors on youtube:
YouTube - Electric Tractor Development.wmv
JG