Why aren’t tractors becoming more economical?

balerman · Feb 19, 2019

It does seem an anomaly at first glance,cars are without doubt more economical than they used to be,and they have similar emissions add ons to tractors.But tractors are much heavier,maybe even double the weight of say 25 years ago.Stockmans MF 390,2wd would be 3t? todays equivalent 5612,maybe 5t.Nearly all 4wd with air conditioning as standard,not to mention powershift and vario transmissions which are bound to use more fuel.There is a bigger difference between brands than there used to be as well,some of them use fuel to burn off the soot for example

Norfolk Olly · Feb 19, 2019

ive gone from a challenger to a Fendt , both 360hp yet the Fendt will consistently use Up to 60 Lts a day less. Primarily down to it being a vario and having the ability to shut down revs when not needed which the challenger could not do

Hilly · Feb 19, 2019

balerman said:
It does seem an anomaly at first glance,cars are without doubt more economical than they used to be,and they have similar emissions add ons to tractors.But tractors are much heavier,maybe even double the weight of say 25 years ago.Stockmans MF 390,2wd would be 3t? todays equivalent 5612,maybe 5t.Nearly all 4wd with air conditioning as standard,not to mention powershift and vario transmissions which are bound to use more fuel.There is a bigger difference between brands than there used to be as well,some of them use fuel to burn off the soot for example

Cars are bigger, i remembered a ford siera as a fairly large family car unitl i saw one few months ago, new minis are bigger lol

Kiwi Pete · Feb 19, 2019

My tractor used a 220 litres last year and 565 the year before, it's getting more economical and it was made in 1992

DrWazzock · Feb 19, 2019

My pitchfork uses half a Weetabix to bed the beast using two small bales morning and night, every day.

For some it takes a 6 ton telehandler and a straw blower and 80 hp tractor to do the same job in double the time using half a gallon of diesel, leaving the cattle choking in dust and stour one day, then not bedded at all for two days.

But it's easier you see, cos you don't have to get off your arse, and it looks like you are ever so efficient.

It all went downhill from about 1995 onwards IMO, or maybe I'm just getting old. All of my tractors predate 2000. None put out any visible smoke provided they are regularly serviced.

Big tractors and machinery means hauling more deadweight up and down slopes as well as more useless bells and whistles, aircon and all that bollox which wastes millions of gallons of fuel globally and people talk about sustainability like its something that just dawned on them. Some of us have been doing it for years.

two-cylinder · Feb 19, 2019

Netherfield said:
I'd argue that cars are not as economical as they were ten years ago.

Diesel cars not,
Petrol cars are.

michael N123 · Feb 19, 2019

two-cylinder said:
Diesel cars not,
Petrol cars are.

Diesel cars are getting more unreliable every year to

Hilly · Feb 19, 2019

They sell cars with ad blue and don`t tell people , amazing !

michael N123 · Feb 19, 2019

Hilly said:
They sell cars with ad blue and don`t tell people , amazing !

Heard a few story’s of Mercedes charging hundreds to fill the addblue tank on a service

milkloss · Feb 19, 2019

In some cars I gather they (the Ad blue bottle) weren’t even accessible let alone a serviceable part.

michael N123 · Feb 19, 2019

milkloss said:
In some cars I gather they (the Ad blue bottle) weren’t even accessible let alone a serviceable part.

Have to take the spare wheel out a merc and there’s a fuel point where you need a special screw in then push in bottle

Finn farmer · Feb 20, 2019

michael N123 said:
Have to take the spare wheel out a merc and there’s a fuel point where you need a special screw in then push in bottle

Teacher bought an Audi A6 which can't be filled by customer at all. 250€/fill is the price he has to pay. Well, goes to show that Vag will always stick it in you dry.

Hilly · Feb 20, 2019

michael N123 said:
Heard a few story’s of Mercedes charging hundreds to fill the addblue tank on a service

They are all at that !

flyonthewall · Feb 20, 2019

Got to say on the tractor front we removed the egr crap on our 6430 when the second vgt turbo went, and replaced it for a straight one. It should be more economical than our older 6420s which is non cr, but they seem to be on par

DrDunc · Feb 20, 2019

Ploughing with Deutz k430 profiline tier3, 120hp at shaft

Used between 15 and 17l/hour.

Ploughing with Deutz 6150.4 tier 4 (adblue) 150hp at the shaft

Uses between 11 and 13l/hour

Same 4f Kuhn 121 multimaster plough, same fields, same depth.

The Case/New Holland engine improvement will be better than this. CNH tier 3 engines were thirstier than Deutz tier 3, but they are very similar consumption at tier 4.

Deere by comparison have managed to make their thirsty tier 2 engines into a tier 4 that is something that drinks like a young farmer club out on tiles.

Can't comment on sisu economy improvement or otherwise as nobody here has bought a tier 4.

Drillman · Feb 20, 2019

2003 NH TM155 and 2011 case Puma 155 here. The Puma is basically the red version of the T6080 which superseded the 155.

I’ve not been very scientific about things, although we do have a meter on the fuel tank though.

Both tractors have the same size fuel thimble and doing the same job they use roughly the same amount of fuel/acre, very little in it performance wise as well.

AgriBusiness Plans · Feb 20, 2019

I would have thought that with the burgeoning smallholder, niche producer and market gardener trend there would be some decent sub-compact tractors with a few good attachments - something more than a ride on mower for the big house.

I could I would get a smaller tractor, collect attachments and do contracting work, landscaping and odds and ends like this Tim.

michael N123 · Feb 20, 2019

AgriBusiness Plans said:
I would have thought that with the burgeoning smallholder, niche producer and market gardener trend there would be some decent sub-compact tractors with a few good attachments - something more than a ride on mower for the big house.

I could I would get a smaller tractor, collect attachments and do contracting work, landscaping and odds and ends like this Tim.

Nearly every big brand makes compact tractors there’s loads to choose from

balerman · Feb 20, 2019

DrDunc said:
Ploughing with Deutz k430 profiline tier3, 120hp at shaft

Used between 15 and 17l/hour.

Ploughing with Deutz 6150.4 tier 4 (adblue) 150hp at the shaft

Uses between 11 and 13l/hour

Same 4f Kuhn 121 multimaster plough, same fields, same depth.

The Case/New Holland engine improvement will be better than this. CNH tier 3 engines were thirstier than Deutz tier 3, but they are very similar consumption at tier 4.

Deere by comparison have managed to make their thirsty tier 2 engines into a tier 4 that is something that drinks like a young farmer club out on tiles.

Can't comment on sisu economy improvement or otherwise as nobody here has bought a tier 4.

I would agree about CNH engines,the T5070 and T5040 (both Tier 3)we have here I always think are thirsty,but the Maxxum 115 ( Tier 4b) which boosts to 140hp uses much less fuel baling,all use the same engine block.

flyonthewall · Feb 20, 2019

Perhaps it’s just a John Deere design flaw then. I did try another MF, which was 5713, it was much better on fuel than the JD with its sisu unit.

Why aren’t tractors becoming more economical?

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0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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