Do we really need all the electronic features in new tractors?

[the old grind]

Prob with added electronics is complexity, feedback loops, extra harnesses/connections, so-called self-monitoring, etc. This becomes obvious when a scan tool's data sheet lists 'xx, yy, or zz' for the same code. Swapping-out an ECM or CCM when trouble-shooting isn't as simple or as affordable as 'replace glow plug relay'. More stuff there, needed or not, is to some just 'more to go wrong'.

Boat motors are constrained by recent EPA guidelines/stds. Gensets, chainsaws, and mowers won't be (or aren't) far behind. The buzz-word 'digital divide' will soon be replaced by 'digital dependence'. (Say goodbye to the days when a diesel would stay running with all the electrical bling stripped off or iffy.) "Change for the better" doesn't necessarily apply to the operator, and requests for help here are getting a lot of 'views' or WAGs compared to specific responses, esp when our most seasoned experts haven't BTDT yet.

Surely the 'pedal tractor' will be proposed someday as a way to save the planet but we might have to add two buddy seats with pedals to use PTO implements. "Got a class today? No? Good, I want to till the garden & could use some help." :laughing:

 

[paulfun9]

Eco this, auto that, etc.
What happened to a simple but bullet-proof tractor that gets the job done and pleads for more work every day?

Yeah, I'm sure your pampered derri駻e absolutely must have a air-ride, warmed cushion for the extensive 150 hrs you'll put on your 'beast' every year since you 'pulled the trigger', but for those of us willing to 'suffer' in a first-world-problem kinda way for simplicity in a new tractor these days, what are the options, if any?

Thanks.

Too many folks out there who cant think for themselves making demands that their tractors be loaded down with as much if not more electronic crap as their cars so their brainless bodies can consider themselves a machine operator.

What makes me laugh the most is that for most of the people I see posting about wanting this and that added, their use hours don't seem to ad dup to much and I really wonder why someone who only puts on 100 to 150 hours a year needs any added features. It just dosnt seem to be cost effective. I rack up that many hours in a few weeks and still don't want or need all those features.

 

[woodchipper]

Electronics are prone to magnetic surges and interferences, plus tractor environment is definitely of the harshest you could get. Look at older basic tractors: they constantly have some sort of gauge problems...But they will still run and crave for more work!! High technology in today's tractors seem to have found a niche in super big agricultural farming machinery.
I am not in favor of automation, as I look at it as a dehumanizing and debilitating. But I agree it is needed in many fields where they alleviate the human factor risk, as well as the bodyly harm and injury risks.

 

[TSO]

Too many folks out there who cant think for themselves making demands that their tractors be loaded down with as much if not more electronic crap as their cars so their brainless bodies can consider themselves a machine operator.

What makes me laugh the most is that for most of the people I see posting about wanting this and that added, their use hours don't seem to ad dup to much and I really wonder why someone who only puts on 100 to 150 hours a year needs any added features. It just dosnt seem to be cost effective. I rack up that many hours in a few weeks and still don't want or need all those features.

If folks want to spend their money on added features, who are we to judge? Now if they're on a tight budget, extra features are likely wasted money.

Some folks want their cars to have leather seats, cold air conditioning, and Bluetooth stereos...while you are probably happy on your wooden wheeled horse drawn carriage. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[forestcreature1]

Since I can't resist kicking a wasp's nest.... [donning bee keeper suit]

I will raise you one with this - no one 'needs' a tractor to begin with - all the things people do with them now was done by hand (and still is in some places).

[disclaimer - I am down to ONE tractor, I had three. The new one didn't come with ENOUGH electronics on it (deere 3046r/deluxe cab), so I am adding a 'loader cam', two dash cams [fore & aft], GPS, 2-way radio]

On the other paw - if you go steam, you won't need to have even one volt of that electric stuff.
(I don't know if there were any hand-crank diesel tractors, but if there were, that would apply there too I think)

 

[ultrarunner]

My Grandfather had a hand crank one cylinder Diesel Tractor that used a bunt to start in the dead of winter... pure simplicity with gravity fed tank and adjustable shutter in front of the radiator... also very well built... radiator had never sprung a leak in 65 years...

Complexity often does not bode well for longevity... see it in the Dr. parking lot at work... all those expensive 100k + vehicles are leased... no one wants to own one without a warranty.

Contrast that with how much retained value an excellent 15 year old Toyota Corolla has compared to a car of the same vintage costing several times more new...

 

[the old grind]

If folks want to spend their money on added features, who are we to judge? Now if they're on a tight budget, extra features are likely wasted money. ... Different strokes for different folks.

Judge ... owners(?) ... for chosen options? Few of us care so much what the other guy wants or has, but would rather a 'minimum' of electro-gadgetry be just that .. and among our buying options. Not such a big field that I can see.

Old 'basic' tractors don't quit working out of jealousy of modern enviro-controls. That said, I'm one who does appreciate electric start, glow plugs headlights, lit IP/gauges, and amber flashers on my horse's buggies, and I don't disdain the added luxuries of EGR and electric diverter control for front remotes Plenty enough to fuss with IMO. btw, my op controls and PTOs work just fine activated mechanically.

 

[jrclark]

Eco this, auto that, etc. What happened to a simple but bullet-proof tractor that gets the job done and pleads for more work every day? Yeah, I'm sure your pampered derriére absolutely must have a air-ride, warmed cushion for the extensive 150 hrs you'll put on your 'beast' every year since you 'pulled the trigger', but for those of us willing to 'suffer' in a first-world-problem kinda way for simplicity in a new tractor these days, what are the options, if any? Thanks.

I bought a Kioti DS3510 because it was one of the few new tractors that was dominated by 'old tech'. I'm not a p***y when it comes to exercising my left leg.

For the record, I cracked up laughing at the 'beast' and 'pulled the trigger' remark. Admittedly, I fall into the occasional user profile simply because I only have access to it on the weekends. Still a funny comment, though.

 

[TSO]

It's interesting ... There isn't a feature on my tractor that I WOULDN'T want. And actually, there's a few more features I'd like if I could add them, to help make me more productive.

Some of what some of you are saying, or maybe the "way" you're saying it, sounds like jealousy more than anything else.

 

[davesl708]

I saw on the news where the EPA is going after your BBQ grill now. Will need blowers and drip shields. Next will be regens on your grill for the smoke.