Tricycles?

[CliffordK]

Are there any benefits of tricycles?

I remember an uncle used to use one to dig sugar beets, but I don't remember why.

I don't think I've ever driven one, but I'm reading about them being much less stable on hillsides, and using a front end loader.

So, are there any true benefits of tricycles? Why were so many built 60+ years ago?

Many of the steam tractor had 4 wheels.
Model T conversions, and early tractors from the teens and twenties had 4 wheels.

So, why did the tricycles appear?

 

[super55]

Tricycle tractors were generally your row crop tractors and were very good at that task hands down. They are more unstable and I'm not sure but safety requirements might have caused them to be phased out over the years. Cultivating used to be much more prominent in farming practices years ago and keeping a set of tires in the middle row is a lot easier. Turning radius is much shorter. You can really whip those things around.

As to why they disappeared? I can only guess but probably larger implements requiring larger tractors to pull them started causing stability issues.

 

[bcp]

A tricycle tractor with individual wheel brakes was a zero-turn tractor. You could finish one row and turn 180 degrees for the next one, using only a tractor length of turning space at the end of the field.

Now they make attachments to turn the tractor into a tricycle at the row's end.

Bruce

 

[CliffordK]

Now, that is an interesting device.

One can crank the wheels pretty tight on most tractors, but having 4x4 driven front wheels also helps a lot in tight turns. forcing the tractor to turn rather than sliding forward.

Most of the new tractors are 4x4 or 8x8. Could one make a narrow wheelbase 4x4, or perhaps 3x3?

I would think the stability would increase significantly with a wider tractor, but I have no doubt that OSHA would disapprove of any new tricycles.

 

[MHarryE]

Refer to thread about person killed in parade accident. Not saying a wide front would have saved him but the narrow fronts are tippy. Yes, a wide front pivots on the front axle but there are stops that limit the pivot. Back in the old days we had many narrow front tractor tip over accidents in our area. Most just payed over on their side because the loader frame was high and almost worked as a ROPS so it was get another tractor, pull it upright, and go on worker. My next door neighbor, however, was not so lucky. He ended up pinned underneath and wasn't discovered until his wife came home an hour later. Survived, but a paraplegic. When I bought this place from my dad he threw in the H he had kept but it was only bad memories for me so I gave it away. Now I wish I had it for my rusty iron display at the end of my driveway, to go along with my 1928 Case CC, also a narrow front.

 

[CalG]

Wide stance front ends do have stops at around 10 degrees of tilt, But getting to that ten degrees can be a wild ride. Until the stops are hit, stability between trikes and "conventional" four wheel tractors is EXACTLY THE SAME. (actually, the edge goes to the trike!)

Flat land does well with narrow front ends.

 

[bcp]

I have about 15 years of driving JD and Farmall tricycle tractors on very flat, flood irrigated land. Never a hint of instability with one.

I never saw a loader on one until I moved to hilly country!

 

[Ed of all trades]

Never had a tractor really start to roll over until I was bush hogging with my uncles IH 706 tricycle, was not that steep just a little quick dip and one rear tire was over 2 ft off the ground. I turned into it and it set down but no more tricycles for me.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Wide stance front ends do have stops at around 10 degrees of tilt, But getting to that ten degrees can be a wild ride. Until the stops are hit, stability between trikes and "conventional" four wheel tractors is EXACTLY THE SAME. (actually, the edge goes to the trike!)
Flat land does well with narrow front ends.

This is wrong. On the trike the pivot is on the ground, thus giving more lateral displacement per unit of pivot. The edge is slightly in favor of the 4 wheeler.
larry

 

[SPYDERLK]

Never had a tractor really start to roll over until I was bush hogging with my uncles IH 706 tricycle, was not that steep just a little quick dip and one rear tire was over 2 ft off the ground. I turned into it and it set down but no more tricycles for me.

Loaded tires? Set wide?
Tricycles generally sit higher and are quite effective at powering a bushog to cut fairly large trees moving forward.
larry