How to adjust my tractor to a slow crawl? (0.0378 MPH)

[radioman]

Might be faster to scoop up the dirt and dump it it in your contraption and let it do its thing while you get another load . kinda like strip mining.

 

[Deerherd]

They do make a boiler to treat smaller amounts that runs on heating oil but it takes about 30 minutes to get the results you are looking for. Nematodes are killed in the 120 degrees range and weed seed needs 160 to 180 degrees, again in the 30 minute range to be effective. I've only used them in greenhouse situations but have seen permanent self propelled units in greenhouse but you would need to be growing a high priced crop for it to be cost effective. Dare we ask what you are growing?

 

[flusher]

Greetings all;

Thank you for reading my post. I am a farmer in Northern California, on the outskirts of Silicon Valley. I am looking to find a method of customizing my tractor to move forward at a very slow crawl. The reasoning for this is that I am adapting my equipment to be able to use steam to clear my fields of pests such as soil nematodes and weed seeds. This can be accomplished by a modified rototiller that can cultivate the soil with steam injected until the soil temperature reaches 180 degrees. This can only work if the forward moving tractor moves at about a 3 foot per minute speed. Can anybody make a suggestion? I currently use a Kubota M8200 however I am also in the market for a New Holland TK4030.

Thanks

Danny

PS currently the rototiller will be hydraulic powered.

How long does it take to heat the soil to 180 degrees (deg F, I assume)?

I'd design a customized soil heater about 10 ft long and at least the width of your tire tracks. Hitch it to the rototiller, till a 10-foot length, stop the tractor, turn off the engine to conserve fuel, and then heat the soil to 180F. Repeat this procedure until the job is finished.

No use beating your head against the problem of tractor modification for ultra low ground speed. Tractor mods can be costly PITAs. My hobby is restoring old tractors so I know how difficult and expensive such modifications can be.

Make the necessary modifications to your implements and to your operating procedure--much easier IMHO.

Hummm, Gilroy--garlic crop--no vampires

Good luck.

 

[s219]

Never mind the unrealistically slow speeds -- where did that 0.0378 MPH number come from with that many decimal places? That's a red flag that someone is out of touch with the real world. It has no practical feasibility -- in the 4th decimal place you're talking about accuracy of 0.0018 inches per second. You'd be lucky to get that many decimal places of precision for the most sophisticated control systems in a machine shop or lab setting, never mind a tractor driving in dirt on tires! I'd say work with units of inches/second and round to the nearest 0.1.

 

[Kernopelli]

I agree with the consensus....EXTREEMLY slow travel speed. My creeper gear is painfully slow ( probably 1-1.5 mph), that's approx. 30X too fast. The only way I see to make this feasible is to increase the volume and temperature of the steam or to increase exposure time as JPR suggested ( in the end, probably the most practical solution).

I am curious what is producing the steam, how much, what temp and pressure it is operating at? Also curious how the travel speed was calculated to determine the soil was sufficiently treated?

 

[motownbrowne]

You want to STERIZE your soil? When I see someone say something like this I see how far agriculture is going in the WRONG direction. I apologize for posting my contrary view, but come on. Your soil needs to be alive. If it is treated with respect and stewarded properly, it will not need sterilization. Amending? Sure, but not pasteurization. you won't be growing a healthy product from a dead soil. Check out Albrecht and go from there.

 

[mbullism]

instead of cracking things open and customizing gearing, you might investigate inline tandem geared trannys... it would leave other issues to be worked out was well, but each tranny in reverse would result in greatly reduced forward... my old man did it years back to and old Page garden tractor and R+R was paint dry slow. The flip side was that 4+4 was exhilarating, lol... an 4+R was to be avoided :shocked:

.02

 

[Smallplot]

My TYM has creep gear and it is slower than snail slime. First gear in creep I believe is listed as .19 MPH.

 

[grsthegreat]

at that speed its going to take you about 40 hours to do 1 acre.....

 

[CobyRupert]

You want to STERIZE your soil? When I see someone say something like this I see how far agriculture is going in the WRONG direction. I apologize for posting my contrary view, but come on. Your soil needs to be alive. If it is treated with respect and stewarded properly, it will not need sterilization. Amending? Sure, but not pasteurization. you won't be growing a healthy product from a dead soil. Check out Albrecht and go from there.

Whew! A voice of reason. So often I (we) are wired to want to find a solution to a problem (how to make tractor go 0.0378mph? Or how to increase contact area and exposure time, etc..) when the right answer is a question: Why?