Cabless electric tractor

[Farmer Roy]

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[Courier]

I never "got" the obsession with recharging for electric vehicles, just swap the battery for a charged one

Apparently China carmaker NIO is developing along those lines.

 

[JD-Kid]

only thing I can see is like all cordless things the battery don't swap over band to band unless the whole industry used the same battery mounts to fit all the trucks it will be a total screw up
hate to the the ice cream man at mt Isa or mable bar middle of summer just to find they dont have a Volvo battery but have 8 ken worth ones

 

[sjt01]

I never "got" the obsession with recharging for electric vehicles, just swap the battery for a charged one

That depends on everyone having the same battery, a standard interface for the BMS (battery management system), same cooling system connectors.
It might be easier with trucks to use the same physical dimensions, but cars will always try to fit as much capacity into the available space within a chassis, so there will be different physical sizes and shapes of battery. Then there is battery capacity - the Leaf has had at least 4 different electrical capacities in the same size housing, the Renault Zoe similar, and Tesla have had at least 5. That means for just three brands the swap station would need to keep a dozen models of battery in stock and charged up.
It will only ever be a niche application.

 

[ollie989898]

Manufacture hydrocarbon fuels using carbon taken from the atmosphere and you need not worry. Sulphur-iodine cycle.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Manufacture hydrocarbon fuels using carbon taken from the atmosphere and you need not worry. Sulphur-iodine cycle.

Not as if it's new technology. There is evidence of distilling from 1st century AD.

 

[sjt01]

It would be an interesting challenge to get it to the fields up our lanes! Then you need high power sockets in every field. How about dodgem style (acknowledging that dodgems used the floor as the return wire, more difficult in a field.

 

[renewablejohn]

It was the most beautiful evening today, and I'm just in from spraying. My evening was spent in my glass box, trundling up hill and down every 36 metres, admiring some spectacular views, at my favourite time of year.

But then I thought to myself actually, this is a bit rubbish. Might as well be watching it on TV, as the air con blasted away to keep the smell of chlormequat and moddus out of my nostrils, and the engine thundered away behind me.

All of which got me thinking- it's all a bit disconnected isnt it? I'd much rather have been admiring the view in silence, and in the fresh air. Ok, so take the spraying bit out of the equation, but if someone made an electric cabless tractor I'd have one in a heartbeat.

Didn't they say that sitting on one of those cultivators pulled by wires from traction engines, the only sound you could hear was the crisping of the stubble as it vanished into the furrow. I'd like that. Where can I buy one?

Oh dear, perhaps that aircon wasnt working so well after all...https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125105530013?hash=item1d20dee49d:g:57AAAOSwIIthkv55

Your wish is my command just get yourself on fleabay and get it bought.

GE Elec-Trak I5 Electric Garden Tractor 36v heavy duty.Like Wheelhorse B-145 | eBay

This is my top of the range GE Elec Trak I5 electric tractor from the 1970's. (I use Trojan t105 batteries). Its the heavy duty industrial version that was used with many optional extras and most powerful motor, even a forklift on the front - I will show an example picture of this if I can find one.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Courier]

That depends on everyone having the same battery, a standard interface for the BMS (battery management system), same cooling system connectors.
It might be easier with trucks to use the same physical dimensions, but cars will always try to fit as much capacity into the available space within a chassis, so there will be different physical sizes and shapes of battery. Then there is battery capacity - the Leaf has had at least 4 different electrical capacities in the same size housing, the Renault Zoe similar, and Tesla have had at least 5. That means for just three brands the swap station would need to keep a dozen models of battery in stock and charged up.
It will only ever be a niche application.

Standardisation will develop in time - We used to have a Chevrolet ex USAF truck where the clutch pedal was in between the brake and accelerator - wouldn’t get that nowadays.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Petrol & diesel nozzles, along with the filling points of all cars, are standardised. . .

doesn’t matter what brand car you drive, the nozzle fits in it

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Already on trial here

Australia's first electric prime mover fleet unveiled, with swap and go batteries

One pedal driving for trucks, and no compression braking. Janus says its electric conversion technology for prime movers delivers no emissions and big savings on costs.

thedriven.io

Where the chuff is the fun in that?

No burble of beautifully timed cylinders with a blissfully modified upright stainless exhaust, and the faint hint of the shadow of black smoke on the road as you pull away with the sun low behind you.

It’s all just pointless to me.

 

[Dave645]

I do think hybrid will be where we go first, a lot of large plant is already going that way.

 

[sjt01]

I do think hybrid will be where we go first, a lot of large plant is already going that way.

Hybrid is only of use when you would use engine braking in a car, so unless you are using your tractor just for road haulage, there is not much use for it. You just end up carrying around a heavy and bulky diesel engine and fuel supply, plus a heavy bulky battery and a compact motor. Worst of both worlds.

 

[Dave645]

Hybrid is only of use when you would use engine braking in a car, so unless you are using your tractor just for road haulage, there is not much use for it. You just end up carrying around a heavy and bulky diesel engine and fuel supply, plus a heavy bulky battery and a compact motor. Worst of both worlds.

Hybrid setups have many forms,
engine braking is zero to do with hybrid operations. Regenerative Braking is just recovery of energy to put back into a battery. its great but has no bearing on a vehicle being hybrid or full electric.

i expect on a tractor hybrid will be more like a low level generator running to supply maybe upto 50% of the energy the tractor needs for a days work, so rather than 300kwh plus of batteries maybe half that and a relatively small generator setup.
45hp generator motor with a sub 100kwh battery could run a tractor most of a day.
the efficiency of the generator is far easier to get good emissions from, than a normal tractor engine.
the key is sizing the system right.
Would I prefer 100% electric yes I would but the current cost of 400 kwh size batteries is so high that it’s simpler and cheaper to go half and half, half generated, half battery storage, or you fit a bigger battery and a smaller generator, the goal is a full days work from a charge and refuel.

light duty jobs maybe able to be done just from batteries but big power hungry jobs I expect the generator to be running far more.

 

[JD-Kid]

Petrol & diesel nozzles, along with the filling points of all cars, are standardised. . .

doesn’t matter what brand car you drive, the nozzle fits in it

yea fuel is fuel just pour it in
world wide can even get the plugs the same shape let alone the voltage even the ev cars at the moment are like apple and android phones plugs dont fit each other
my gut feeling is electric and battureys are just a stop gap product until they find a better system methanol might be the winner
a loo seat on the boot of yer car to fill the tank a quick dump at the the pump long trip maybe a good curry for the family

 

[Farmer Roy]

Where the chuff is the fun in that?

No burble of beautifully timed cylinders with a blissfully modified upright stainless exhaust, and the faint hint of the shadow of black smoke on the road as you pull away with the sun low behind you.

It’s all just pointless to me.

As someone who has driven busted arsed gear most of my life & having to put up with the old Mercedes truck last week with a broken exhaust, I have to say the “sweet burble” wears thin pretty quickly & I then resort to wearing ear plugs for the rest of the day
I may be old n cranky, but tbh I hate noise these days. The quieter things are the better, I reckon

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Yes, I agree, I get tired of noise pretty soon.

But 6 cylinder music? I could listen to the right arrangement all day.

 

[Dave645]

As someone who has driven busted arsed gear most of my life & having to put up with the old Mercedes truck last week with a broken exhaust, I have to say the “sweet burble” wears thin pretty quickly & I then resort to wearing ear plugs for the rest of the day
I may be old n cranky, but tbh I hate noise these days. The quieter things are the better, I reckon

Upgrade to noise cancelling headphones, don’t get fooled by noise isolating headphones it’s not the same, true noise cancelling headphone use power, most can be recharged. Wired and wireless just plug them into your phone or connect via Bluetooth. Sony do a wide range, then it’s down to preference over ear, or ear plug.
While not the cheapest, how much do you value your hearing?

Once you upgrade you will never go back to ear plugs.
I use them when combining I don’t listen to music when combining, but it’s cuts the engine noise right down and lets you hear the machine without, ending the day with your ears ringing.
( yes I have a old 1540 combine )

 

[7610 super q]

The final step towards complete factory farming.
Still, maybe these driverless things will run amok and run over a few ramblers. Silver linings, and all that.....

 

[Wigeon]

The final step towards complete factory farming.
Still, maybe these driverless things will run amok and run over a few ramblers. Silver linings, and all that.....

Well this thread was originally about a fleet of electric open station john deere 6030s silently tugging cultivators over merry England, driven by a group of people whose lives, and those of their families, were intimately connected with the land, and whose futures depended on the success of the crops they were growing, all whilst being able to admire the view in the fresh air. Or that sort of thing.

Driverless electric stuff on the other hand is, I'm sure, great. It will give everyone a bit more time to spend wondering whether they should install non-binary lavatories, or if men really can have babies.