Electric Tractor

[the old grind]

Motors could be TEFC vs ODP-framed and 'Inverter Duty' just like our shop machines with VFDs. Doesn't add that much cost or weight, and a given for 'outdoor' use. IMO that'd seem to be the 'method' for tractors to deliver steady torque at varying rpms.

The alternate, and IMO better suited to cars is DC permag to take advantage of regenerative braking. So two approaches.

Some of us who don't rush to embrace 'new for its own sake' have watched decades of 'will make your life better' just make one or two guys rich selling stuff 99% can't afford in our lifetime.

In the '60s we heard "Hi tech composites will mean personal helicopters in our driveways by 1990!" (Popular Science) I've been saving for mine for 55 years.

Burger flippers driving Teslas? Maybe not this year ...

 

[gary49]

I’ve seen an electric tractor. It’s an old Allis Chalmers G that has been converted with golf cart batteries and an electric motor. It was at Sidehill Farm in northwest Massachusetts. They use it only for cultivation which is a pretty low horsepower application.

 

[LouNY]

Here you go, you can roll your own;
Electric G Tractor - Niekamp Tool Company

 

[Tennsawdust]

We're long overdue for an electric tractor from one of the majors. Be A LOT quieter and would service most of us who probably use our tractors less then 4 hours on a given day.

Ralph

If people were willing to pay $50,000 for a compact tractor they would already be selling them. Unfortunately battery costs are still far too high for anyone to make money selling an electric tractor. Just aren't there yet.

 

[prof fate]

John Deere's electric tractor in action - YouTube

not in stores...yet.

This is the Fendt e1 Vario electric tractor - FutureFarming

Aritlce says they were putting models out into use last year for real world use and testing.

 

[prof fate]

If people were willing to pay $50,000 for a compact tractor they would already be selling them. Unfortunately battery costs are still far too high for anyone to make money selling an electric tractor. Just aren't there yet.

Yeah...just wait.

Elec cars can be had now for LESS than teh avg car. And if you save $2000 a year in fuel and keep it 10 years it can cost $10k MORE and still be a better deal overall.

As for electric tractors not being affordable/competitive...as near as your local home depot!

Electric - Zero Turn Mowers - Riding Lawn Mowers - The Home Depot

 

[/pine]

...Yeah...just wait...

LoL...Don't hold your breath...!

 

[MossRoad]

Thermal Battery Holds 1.2 Megawatt-Hours of Energy in a 20-Foot Box

 

[the old grind]

Thermal Battery Holds 1.2 Megawatt-Hours of Energy in a 20-Foot Box

I know, right? Just put wheels on it. :thumbsup: Ordered mine already. (great price but shipping from China "may take up to 60 days")

"The battery that put Kubota out of business!"
(click here)​

 

[Diggin It]

I remember a couple years ago our local Lowes store had an interesting riding mower, made in NC. Can't remember the name but it was gas/electric. Interesting design because it was a mower and generator. So you could ride it where you needed A.C. power or power house during a storm. The blades turned independently by electric motors.
Innovative design.

Raven. Seems the blades were far more independent than you mentioned, turning on by themselves and even detaching by themselves:

The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission is recalling a hybrid lawn mower and power generator that was assembled in Lincoln County by a Chinese company.

The Raven, which was pulled from Loweç—´ Home Improvement stores in May, was cited for 82 instances of lawnmower blades detaching. In one case, a bystanderç—´ legs were cut and bruised, the agency says.

Three consumers reported that the blades started without warning. In other cases, the Raven moved without warning and fuel leaked from the vehicle, according to the CPSC.

The Raven went on sale at Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW) stores in January 2012. Sales of the vehicles were halted last May after they developed problems that included stalling during grass cutting.

The CPSC estimates that 11,000 of the Ravens were sold at an average cost of about $3,000.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlot...3/12/government-recalls-hybrid-lawnmower.html

 

[Thomas]

Cars trucks riding mowers just a matter of time...I still like the engine.:thumbsup:

 

[ArlyA]

I agree, but it does seem to take an awful long time to perfect.

Cars trucks riding mowers just a matter of time...I still like the engine.:thumbsup:

 

[daugen]

would be nice to have my own solar panels to charge some very long lived recyclable battery bank,
which would run the converter or charger for my own electric tractor.
I'd love the lack of noise. Get rid of transmission whine too.

Sealed electric motors shouldn't be hard to incorporate, they've been used a long time in manufacturing.
If cooling systems are required, then you have more points of failure.
Lots of ribbed iron please.


Proceed as dictated by the guys with keyboards, condos, and boating shoes.
I know folks with all of them and they are nice people. And they don't all think alike.
Not my reality, as a long time powerboater I put away my Docksiders years ago.
But I almost converted my 16 foot Scout to all electric with German electric outboards.

Electric seems cleaner because we've pushed the nastiness of fuel supply offsite.
All we do is plug in and ignore where it's coming from. Because we have no other choice usually.
And an awful lot of us don't mow more than an hour or two anyway.
I sure do, so my mower is a diesel JD X750. It would need to run for four hours to be of any
use to me. The choices in 60 inch decks electrically powered is likely pretty slim right now.

My Makita battery powered tools are remarkably reliable and always get the job done.
So does my battery powered portable Warn winch. But they are all used intermittently, not constantly.
Always seems to get down to range anxiety.

Now if Toyota used the guts out of its bread and butter hybrid tech and built a tractor around it,
so parts and replacement were manageable, not stupidly expensive due to proprietary low volume tech, I bet
we'd see a fine tractor. Comfortable too...
I wonder what JD is doing here behind the scenes.
Fendt is always a leader and one to watch.
But we need alternatives that are not cost no object. Cost is the object for most of us, both purchase and per hour of operation.

 

[Agvg]

Diesel electric should be an alternative anyhow on both small and large tractors, then you can combine it with a battery packs for light use.

Think how much more robust a front axel with wheel motors would be Vs all the ridiculously amount of parts it is to day with very weak load capacity.

 

[ericm979]

Deere 175hp prototype big ag electric: John Deere's electric tractor in action - YouTube

Fendt 67 hp electric tractor in limited production: This is the Fendt e1 Vario electric tractor - FutureFarming

A new company has an electric CUT for sale now: Solectrac Electric Tractors | eUtility
Interesting that they use linear actuators in place of hydraulics. It's not yet price competitive with current diesels but battery and electric tech is moving much faster than diesel.

An article that talks about electric tractors and all the different new battery technologies in development:
Is the Future of Agriculture Battery-Powered? | Successful Farming

 

[daugen]

What Fendt e1 Vario can do? The battery-powered compact tractor | TractorLab - YouTube

Fendt is considered the Mercedes of Euro tractors, so I'd watch this compact tractor of theirs.
No one is talking price so far that I've seen.
Now to watch that JD video. Going to be JD and Fendt duking it out.
Only other big player that could change landscape is Kubota.
If Kubota makes a big commitment to electric tractors it will sure speed this into reality.

I'd be a bit nervous to buy into a battery system where less than ten years life is expected and/or
battery costs projections are still guesswork.
Like buying a gigantic device that you find only works on D alkalines...
Have to figure in cost of high voltage home/barn charger also.

Lot of folks are going to have to foot development costs before this tech becomes cost effective
for most of us.

 

[LouNY]

The Fendt electric is a small tractor, 67hp or 50 kw.
According to Fendt it can run for up to 5 hours on light loads.
But to put it into perspective the Tesla has what a 75 KWH battery in it.
So in any situation requires even just half of it's power that would only be 3 hours,
if a person was doing any kind of tillage such as plows or for gardens a tiller you'd only at best 2 hours.
Electric sounds nice and a hybrid with enough generator capacity to be able to maintain 3/4 output would be nice.

 

[prof fate]

Who is the buyer for this?

how many do we see with 3 year old tractors with 100, 150 hours on them? The elec will work for them as they're not out tilling 100 acres a week or anything close to that.

I have 198 hours on my tractor in 10 months - some days I brush hogged for 6 hours, but that's the hardest/longest I've run it. A lot of the use is loader and some dirt moving, and lot more is 'travel time' - driving the fenceline to look for issues, an hour to push some snow (not hard work), loader to move something with the forks, etc.

So yeah, some days I'd have to stop and recharge. But most of the time..it would be fine with 3-5 hours of run time.

I have rechargable tools...if I start the day with charged batts maybe in the past 15 years i've had to recharge 5 times when doing big/bigger jobs. But I also do a LOT of things without charging at all. Just pick it up and do xyz and put it back on the shelf.

Like elec cars - 200 mile range is what on a gas car? 1/2 a tank of gas? Unless you have a long commute or are taking a trip that should last you 2-3 days easy, if not more for many folks.

I think I fill my tank 3-4 times a month - so that would be what, 6 to 8 charges? Once every 4-5 days? Seems reasonably easy to live with. I charge my phone a WHOLE lot more often than that!

 

[cqaigy2]

They also have things like flying cars...does not mean they are practical or available to the public etc...

I have an electric AUV, doesn't have anything to do with a tractor. But it's practical and available to the public.