Would you buy an electric tractor?

[Qapla]

Aren't those Hindenburg tractors black and white?

 

[milkman636]

Aren't those Hindenburg tractors black and white?

Mostly black, at least after the fire.

Even though the Hindenburg brand of hydrogen powered tractors are the bomb, it stiil needs an electric counterpart. Maybe we can help get this thread back on track by coming up with a good, hypothetical brand name for an electric tractor too? For me the Die Hard brand seems to come to mind when I think of prolific batteries. So that’d be my first suggestion: Die Hard Tractors. But, I’m sure there are better suggestions out there. Let’s hear some?

 

[dragoneggs]

'Elec-Trak'

Elec-Trak - Wikipedia

 

[man00]

I'm not sure if using electric drive motors for each operation is the way to go or just use a hydraulic pump and have an electric fully HST.

My wife drives an electric clamp-truck There are days when she spends most of the day unloading and stacking rolls of paper. She has never had the lift die on her. She plugs is in at night and it is good-to-go the next day. The rolls of paper are heavy and she can lift some of them two at a time.

They do need a lift/hoist of some sort to remove the battery pack if it needs service ... the added weight of the batteries is a benefit since the lift needs counterweight.

After seeing how well one of these works - I would not be opposed to an electric tractor if I could get a full day of work from a charge.

Where I use to work we had 150 or Toyota lifts. Battery pack on those would last about 5-6 hours of heavy use. Think the batteries were 5k, chargers 4k and after so many hours each battery had to be condition..I think you would need two sets of batteries for each tractor lots and lots of $$$$. Once battery got so low the lift would stop lifting (even for forks) and you best head for new battery at that point

 

[blacktruck]

The title pretty much says it. There are a few companies out there either developing or already getting units out that are entirely electric. Like the tesla of tractors. Would you consider one? Curious to what you think the pros and cons are.

Here's one that I heard about:

Monarch Tractor

No. Not at this time.
Maybe one day in the future battery technology will have improved to allow longer periods of work and shorter periods of charging. That ain't today. The Monarch does show some promise but not nearly enough for me to invest in one. The concept of an autonomous tractor doesn't sit well with me either. The idea of buying one of these just doesn't work for me.

 

[MossRoad]

Autonomous electric tractor would be great for businesses that want to reduce human costs. They work consistently and predictably and 24/7 when needed.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Autonomous electric tractor would be great for businesses that want to reduce human costs. They work consistently and predictably and 24/7 when needed.

Especially if they are built by other machines.

 

[blacktruck]

Autonomous electric tractor would be great for businesses that want to reduce human costs. They work consistently and predictably and 24/7 when needed.

I cannot argue that they are fairly consistent and do reduce hourly labor costs and associated legacy costs related to employees. I have watched the development and testing of autonomous trucks for many years. Sad to say but they actually work fairly well in controlled situations. Given situations that fall outside of normal parameters, maybe not so much. All that aside, I have two issues that cross my mind on this topic. When we replace all of the workers with machines, who will buy the products or serivces we are selling? Order or buy something from a kiosk or machine, if you are not satisfied in some way with the purchase what is your next step? There is nobody to tell and nobody to help you. Do you feel satisfied now with your purchase from a machine?

 

[crazyal]

An autonomous tractor is only good for things like crop work in a field. I could see one cleaning out a barn. But for most tasks there's just too much variability. I can't think of a thing that I do that could be automated. The closest thing would be maintaining my driveway but even that I'm always adjusting depending on things I see. How would a computer be able to decide if the ground is getting too muddy and it needs to find a different route? Some of those decisions are based on future plans (are you going to be working in this area again before it dries out?). Is the other route down near a stream that flooded last week and might have dried out or it could be still soggy?

 

[blacktruck]

An autonomous tractor is only good for things like crop work in a field. I could see one cleaning out a barn. But for most tasks there's just too much variability. I can't think of a thing that I do that could be automated. The closest thing would be maintaining my driveway but even that I'm always adjusting depending on things I see. How would a computer be able to decide if the ground is getting too muddy and it needs to find a different route? Some of those decisions are based on future plans (are you going to be working in this area again before it dries out?). Is the other route down near a stream that flooded last week and might have dried out or it could be still soggy?

Well said sir.
The computer cannot think of what to do once the parameters have been exceeded or crossed in any way. All of that and I usually just enjoy getting out on my tractor to do some work when I can. No way I would give up any of my time in the seat of the tractor to a computer.