Are we in the USA really this far behind?

[jdmeth]

Looks like a lot of the European small articulated tractors are being used for agriculture and crops. Here in the USA, our rigid heavy framed compact tractor are used more for building, maintaining property, and landscaping work. But I sure wish we had their brakes and front 3pt.
rScotty

Small tractors are big in Europe because small farms are big in Europe. Many Americans have lawns almost as big as many European farms. Big, flat lawns require a different type of tractor than a small, hilly farm.

I am a retired potato farmer, just last week I watched a YouTube video of some Eastern Europeans planting potatoes. They had four or five of these small tractors (no cabs) in the small field. Two were using roto tillers to prepare the land. One was hilling the rows. One was pulling a small one row cup planter. Two were pulling wagons with seed potatoes and fertilizer. Men were walking up and down the rows scattering the fertilizer by hand! Other men were carrying baskets of cut up potatoes and filling the planter as it drove by. That is their mentality, very labor intensive.

I remember 60 years ago watching my dad plant potatoes. He had a 22 hp JD 520 tractor puling a two row Iron Age planter with a hired man riding it. Bags of fertilizer and seed potatoes were piled on each end of the quarter mile long rows. At each end they filled the hoppers on the planter with 400 lb of fertilizer and 500 lb of potatoes and drove back to the other end.

Today in my area (north Florida) 200 hp four wheel drive tractors pulling four row planters carrying 2 tons of seed. The planter is filled by a conveyer from 30,000 lb bulk trucks. Fertilizer is apply ahead of planting using a four row distriutor that of filled with an auger on a five ton bulk cart.

 

[Mtnmnstr]

I do not believe we are. First when I see new Items come out,

what need does it fill?
Why is this better?

 

[Bentrim]

Most all US manufacturers at onetime or another built some kind of specialty tractor or packages that were used for power for other machines. Most of the specialty tractors were of a European design, some were changes made to standard production tractors. Even some were designed and built by people who thought they could sell their tractor. (Steiner for one). Most of the European designs were usually designed for vineyard, orchard or close area work. Yes there are some very useful builds that would could be used here but until they are imported the price is unreasonable.
US manufacturers used to make some very nice small tractors, but due to labor and material costs they found they could import Asian built tractors cheaper. After other Asian manufacturers found what the US manufacturers were doing they started sending their units here to. Some made out well some not so. Even the Russian's got in on it.
Now some people have a chunk of iron that has established dealers and kept there brand going, some had established dealers and folded, some found a marketing firm to sell and have no support. As I call the a "one time use" use it until it breaks.
Some of the specialty tractors were only marketed in certain areas and were not advertised out of that area, so most people were not aware they were ever built.
Packages include JD 50 for Barber Greene, MM packages 78, 79, 80, 81 for West Corporation on the Sky Trak, Oliver made 770 and 880 series for Lull Corporation for their brick lifts, I know the are others I don't know about.
Specialty tractors were as I said before were often made for vineyard or orchard work. Versatile made a bidirectional tractor that Ford got a hold of.
Just remember most of the European designs are good for the use they were designed but we Americans often want to do more with them than what they were designed to do.

 

[GeneV]

I have an old Ferrari 95 that I love when it's running correctly. It's got all of the horsepower and torque that I've ever needed. It's has a low center of gravity & 4wd that can get into just about any spot on my property. The only complaint that I have has to do with parts availability. I'm currently running with a u-joint from an 70's Alfa Romero Spider. The engine is a Lombardini air cooled, oil bath air filter, 3 cyl diesel. Lombardini was bought out by Kohler who kind of, sort of support with parts, but not all of them.

I really wish that more folks in the states would give this style of tractor a chance. They're friggin awesome.

I got curious so went googling for an image....that thing comes complete with a roman nose:

https://www.truck1.sg/img/auto/XXL/8045/8045_2278027649308.jpg

 

[ovrszd]

I should've have clarified that I wasn't referring to the articulation pivot points. I was referring to the tilt left/right pivot point. Yes articulated loaders work just fine, however the pivot is on the rear axle. While on these Isodiametric tractors, the front half pivots in relation to the rear half, to create the same articulation of the front axle on a conventional tractor. A loader puts tremendous stresses on this pivot point.

However, these can still be used with a loader and most of the times with a forklift mast, just no the conventional way.

Sure, it can have front loaders as well but these have very low lifting capacity. These tractors also have around 60% of the weight in the front.

Pedro, have patience in these discussions. We are wayyyy behind on versatile use of tractors here. Europe is light years ahead of us. Thanks for your input on this subject as always!!!!

 

[ovrszd]

None of the above are in the least bit innovative. So while they are adapted to a specific need, they aren't any more advanced than a Kubota or a John Deere.

Just much better equipped.

 

[ovrszd]

Yes, John Deere had Goldoni make all of their specialized tractors up till 2007, if I recall correctly.

That line sold really well here and had good support by Goldoni, however, Goldoni had some rough times and went bankrupt. John Deere now offers little to no support at all for those specialized lines of tractors, they don't even list those models on the parts catalog.

This is the only Goldoni I've ever saw. It was in Baghdad Iraq.

 

[ovrszd]

From what I have seen on this forum many, if not most of the posters here, use their tractor as little more than a glorified lawn tractor. In fact I do much of what many here do with an old Craftsman lawn tractor and a shovel. Yes, I would much rather have a nice new CUT but I do not have the where-with-all to purchase one at this time. The tractors shown all do a specialized job and do it very well. In most cases far better than the typical compact tractor ever could.

Around here most farmers are doing tasks that tractors were made to do since their inception, and many tractors in use today were in use during the Carter administration. This is not the case in much of the world and new practices and tools are a must. So, yes, in many ways the US is very far behind the rest of the industrialized world.

Very good post.

How dare you suggest that many members here have tractors they don't need......

My oldest is an '82 model. Shows it's age. Still does the work it was intended to do. No payments.

 

[ruffdog]

I think the difference in tractor designs and ingenuity is driven by farming mentality. The US is a fairly young country that had plenty of land to expand to, while other countries may have limited open/flat land to chose from. The only option they have is to come up with inventive ideas (thinking outside the box) to be able to farm on hills or in tight spaces. They don't have room to build a giant shed to house every type of tractor. They would rather design a tractor that will do about every job so a big shed doesn't cover valuable property.

 

[MossRoad]

Hey Moss, what's the implement all the way on the right?

48" brush cutter