Compact Tractors are Designed All Wrong

[mike69440]

W-5 YUKON Articulated Utility Tractor - High performance tractors, mowers, and outdoor power equipment - WISCONSIN Engineering

Not available in USA as far as I can tell, but kinda cool!
Articulating Compact Tractors - YouTube

 

[SpringHollow]

The Yukon is an interesting tractor but limited to 12° slope with the wheels set wide.

Ken

 

[SpringHollow]

I t doers have some really nice wheel options including extra wide and duals.

Ken

 

[Piston]

Kind of reminds me of the Unisystem - you always have to reconfigure it for what you want to do. Plus these are big - not a compact or lightweight, i.e. on your lawn type of machine.

Very very cool concept! I love the idea of something like a telehandler, but none of them that I knew of are available with a 3 point hitch and PTO.

Although the 3 point hitch is outdated technology and a pain in the rear at times, many of us have numerous 3 point implements already and it would be too costly to switch to all hydraulic.

It’s nice to see other options and advancements in technology out there.

 

[MultiMow]

Ground impact is basically weight of the tractor divided by the contact area. I am not talking about the damage caused by turning, etc. where the type of steering (articulated, skid steer, conventional) makes a large difference. So for the same style tire, twice the weight needs twice the ground surface area. For the same diameter tires, twice the width would be a reasonably close approximation.

Ken

There's a lot more to be said than just "contact area". Load distribution across the contact area varies widely for different tread patterns. Needless to say, R4 and ag tread have vastly different properties. Ag treads have deceivingly different footprints. While the R4 read has more contact area, the side bite is horrible for tearing up turf.

On a smaller scale, this is like comparing the difference between Kenda brand chevron tread tires on my ZTR mower, to Carlisle's version of the same chevron tread. The rounded edges of the Carlisle tires aren't nearly as prone to turf damage as the Kenda... but at a quick glance, they look virtually identical.

 

[SpringHollow]

I said for the same style of tire and same diameter of tire. In other words, all things being equal, twice the width has 1/2 the ground contact pressure.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

One more bump for a good read.

 

[4570Man]

I haven’t read the whole thread and only the first post. The 3 point hitch doesn’t suck that bad. Especially the more operator friendly versions. I don’t see it going away any time soon due to the amount of already existing implements. Hydraulics drive attachment are expensive. Forward facing mowers are better unless it’s a big one. 15 foot bat wings aren’t a very good candidate to be pushed. Tractor loaders are definitely on the wrong end. And if you haven’t figured it out Americans like doing a lot of things like grandpa. Even if it’s wrong or not the most efficient way. Foreign equipment is much more intuitive than ours.

 

[SpringHollow]

Tractor loaders are definitely on the wrong end? What is your reasoning for that? I can not imagine wanting it on the back even if I had a swivel seat.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

Read the whole thing as time permits. There's a lot of good advice, comments, and exchange of ideas in there from a lot of member starting about 17 years ago. It's some of the conversations in there that turned me towards the machine I have, instead of a conventional tractor.

Analyze your tasks, start looking for the machine(s) that'll accomplish those tasks, in the time you're willing to devote to those tasks, yet staying within your budget. That's the hard part.