First electric tractor ride

[STAYSAFE]

I've yet to see smog in rural areas. Cities, states can mandate smog out if existence. I'm in agreement with that. But, tractors? In rural areas? Smh...

Smog=smoke+fog
Air pollution=anything that comes out of a chimney or exhaust pipe

 

[jayhawk238]

Arrow, thank you for the honest review. It is the first one I have read on TBN of a person who actually drove an electric tractor. I believe that there is a place for them, as you have stated. Also the industry numbers I have seen are around 26 hours per year are average for a compact tractor. The folks here are most likely a representative of the "power users" and have much higher hours per year on average as shown in this thread.

How many hours do you have on your tractor

Recently I was in the market for a used tractor, I was looking at 1 tractor after another that had a few thousand hrs. on it and major engine work done. That was an exclusive selling point for these sellers, the fact that major engine work had recently been done. I assumed that a tractor's...

www.tractorbynet.com

I also found your comment about the Solectrac not charging below 32 degrees surprising. I had not heard of that before. It seems like that would kill a lot of market potential. I wonder if it has a really strong low end pulling power. Electric motors are great at maintaining power over a wider band of RPM's than an internal combustion.

I do not see myself in a position were an electric tractor will make sense for me unless the technology advances quite far. However I know many folks who own compact tractors and have never run them more than 30 minutes in one sitting. However the choice of electric vs internal combustion engine has been politicized too much. Ex: if you drive a Prius your a yuppy, etc. It should be a choice on needs, without a political aspect. With that being said I am afraid there is no way this thread is not going to turn negative with folks bashing electric. Not out of careful consideration of their needs but a more vitriol response. It is also my belief it should be a personal choice of internal vs electric without the Government forcing it down anyone's throat.

"It is also my belief it should be a personal choice of internal vs electric without the Government forcing it down anyone's throat."

I agree 100%. Don't want the government forcing me to go along with their BS.

 

[STAYSAFE]

I'm thinking this price would come down as the technology advances.
Then I think of the mining needed to make one battery and become unconvinced that it would.
I also think that unless synthetics are created for what the raw essential minerals accomplish that comprise a battery makeup such as iron, cobalt, lithium, copper, etc, the scarring to the earth might be as prolific as more and more giant holes are dug. Plus these minerals are in abundance in certain spots only.

I wonder how long a nuclear reactor about the size of a coffee can would propel a vehicle for.

Hydrogen

 

[bsekf]

After they take all the subsidies off wind and solar, diesel may be cheaper than electricity. Until we find a cheap way to produce electric power (think nuclear) fossil fuel will rule. And, we have enough coal to last 100 years at present usage.

 

[5030]

....and lower fossil fuel bills!
6¢ per mile to drive an EV vs 14¢ per mile for diesel

I always get a kick out of comparisons like yours where you totally disregard where the electricity originates at and how it is produced and at what environmental cost and I just don't mean the electricity to recharge but the entire picture including the rare minerals to produce the batteries and all the other parts.

Always good to put you head in the sand and cherry pick your aspects. Why I normally don't reply to comments like yours because they are based on 'tooth fairy' principles.

 

[Skagit]

Regarding the battery temperature issue- It's because Soletrac uses lithium *iron* (LiFePO4), not lithium *ion*. That means:

... 4) Costs about $80 per kWh, - a little more than half of lithium-ion ...

When you need a new battery pack, the current cost for it would be around $1,800

I almost choked reading this, I just bought four 4.2kwh LiFePO4 batteries for my house... Each one cost more than you're saying a 22kwh battery costs and that was at dealer cost which is 40% off list.

Take your $80/kwh you found on Google and multiply it by 2-5x depending on the application. If you can find me a 22kwh battery (of any kind) for $1800 I'll buy one right now, maybe several.

 

[arrow]

“Salesman came buy the dealership yesterday...”
by, buy, bye.....pick ONE....any one

old.
That was what "spell check" corrected when I first typed "lol".
I don't know if I made the blunder but you are correct : any of them will do.
Let me see, "salesman came by the... ..cane buy....cam kebuhy....
Could have been me.

 

[Raul-02]

Why stop with the made in India tractor? Get a Reva & India tools also! View attachment 759758

In high school that car would be a chick magnet maybe as powerful of one as a 69 Camaro with solid lifters was back in the day when men were men and sheep knew it.

 

[5030]

In high school that car would be a chick magnet maybe as powerful of one as a 69 Camaro with solid lifters was back in the day when men were men and sheep knew it.

Looks like a 4 wheel casket to me. Impacting a large Horse Fly would total it...

 

[HAR]

I also found your comment about the Solectrac not charging below 32 degrees surprising. I had not heard of that before. It seems like that would kill a lot of market potential. I wonder if it has a really strong low end pulling power. Electric motors are great at maintaining power over a wider band of RPM's than an internal combustion.

From the Solectrac web page for this item: see bold underlined items regarding battery life and charging....not a cold climate tool.

• Horsepower 25 HP (18kW) Category
  20 PTO HP (15kW) Category
• Front Loader Lifting Capacity
  At Pivot Pin: 1300 lbs
  At 500mm forward: 897 lbs
  Bucket Width: 50" (1270mm)
• Transmission Four-wheel drive
  Number of Gears: 3 ranges
  Differential Lock: Yes
• Max Torque 84Nm (62 ft*lbs)
• On Board Battery 22 kWH Lithium-Ion
• Voltage 72 V
• Charging Time 8 hours @ 220 VAC, 30A
  12 hours @ 120 VAC, 15A

• Battery Life 2,500 Cycles
• Operating Temperature Min: -10 °C (14 °F) Max: 55 °C (131 °F)
• Charging Temperature Min: 0 °C (32 °F) Max: 40 °C (104 °F)
• Towing 3000 lb (including trailer weight)
• Dimensions Length: 108"
  Width: 46"
  Wheelbase: 61"
  Height with ROPS: 86.9”
  Ground Clearance: 10"
  Tires Front: Ag: 5X12", Turf & Industrial: 23x8.5"
  Tires Rear: Ag: 8X18", Turf & Industrial: 33x15.5"
  Weight: 2300 lbs
  Weight w/ Loader: 3600 lbs

 

[arrow]

Dozers are meant for one thing.. Hard pushing. So half a day and the latter half of a day on a very large extension cord. Keep in mind that the now defunct Gem of Egypt and the Silver Spade we both 100% electric powered strip mine shovels and so was the 'Big Muskie', the worlds largest dragline. They had some HUGE extension cords. Back then electricity was plentiful and cheap. Today it is neither and getting worse as demand grows.

This interested me. There are currently some battery powered shovels but these are juicing up their own batteries with a diesel engine so they are more like "hybrid plug ins".
At any rate, I can't imagine these old electric shovels being "corded". I would love to see the generator and the size of the wire utilized but can't find anything on the net about it or I should say don't know how to look for such.
I would imagine the gen sets self contained but fueled with gasoline or diesel I'm thinking.

 

[cqaigy2]

I always get a kick out of comparisons like yours where you totally disregard where the electricity originates at and how it is produced and at what environmental cost and I just don't mean the electricity to recharge but the entire picture including the rare minerals to produce the batteries and all the other parts.

Always good to put you head in the sand and cherry pick your aspects. Why I normally don't reply to comments like yours because they are based on 'tooth fairy' principles.

I've seen a few of those comparisons. One that gets left off quite often is, how much it cost to move the different types of fuels around. For instance how much diesel is used to move a gallon of gas from the refinery to the fuel station, added to the amount of fuel a vehicle uses to go get fueled up. How much energy is used to move electric to where a vehicle charges. Then add the amount of fuel used to make the facilities that generate the "fuels" etc.

 

[Schrodinger]

At the end of the “10 year guarantee” and you have to buy a new battery, will it be like the cost to replace the battery in a Chevy VOLT?

 

[thelanterns]

Salesman came buy the dealership yesterday peddling a Solectrac (spl?) tractor. The owner jumped on and rode it around for awhile. He said it was pretty smooth running, quiet and responsive. The salesman stated that this tractor would save over $12,000 in fuel costs over a similar diesel powered machine in a 10 yr period. The battery was good for that long and I asked about a battery purchase price. He didn't know the answer to that one and kept saying "it's guaranteed for 10 yrs. What tractor company do you know of that guarantees their engine for that long"?
At any rate, the tractor was good for 3-6 hrs on a charge and would charge in 8 hrs on a 220 circuit. It weighed similar to a fueled tractor of that size at 2300 lbs.
MSRP price was $28,000. Came with ags on it. Industrial and turfs were about $1500 more and a loader was about $4600.

In my opinion, It has its place for light use like on a horse farm of small garden or short driveway. If your climate gets below freezing in the winter, you have to heat up the battery with a blanket for it to take a charge. It is a lithium/iron battery that itself must be at 32*
My overall impression was that it was nice for what it was and has its place for someone.
I wouldn't buy it to save the planet as some believe electrics will but I guess its main thrust is towards convenience.
I don't think it would like pulling a 2000 lb log behind it for long or plowing out a 1000 foot driveway with 15" of snow. There is no front pto mount for it as yet..
cet-electric-tractor

The tractor industry is all going this way soon. California is banning all gas and diesel powered garden equipment over the next 10 -15 years and the rest of North America won't be far behind. They are even banning all gas powered chain saws, weed whackers etc. My Kubota dealer told us that he knows that Kubota is working on electric tractors now. So it's coming.

 

[ultrarunner]

The internal combustion engine is doomed. Electric is the only way forward. I think it's a fantastic idea.

Time will tell but I hope it is not a case of all your eggs in one basket.

Remember same from clean Nuclear is our future but forgot about waste… batteries could end the same.

Just shows that no matter how clean it will never be good enough.

Even California with total phase out isn’t counting out Internal Combustion as Hydrogen Fueled ICE is ok…

 

[Citydude]

This interested me. There are currently some battery powered shovels but these are juicing up their own batteries with a diesel engine so they are more like "hybrid plug ins".
At any rate, I can't imagine these old electric shovels being "corded". I would love to see the generator and the size of the wire utilized but can't find anything on the net about it or I should say don't know how to look for such.
I would imagine the gen sets self contained but fueled with gasoline or diesel I'm thinking.

Google P&H 4100 xpb. We had them at the mine I worked at.

 

[5030]

This interested me. There are currently some battery powered shovels but these are juicing up their own batteries with a diesel engine so they are more like "hybrid plug ins".
At any rate, I can't imagine these old electric shovels being "corded". I would love to see the generator and the size of the wire utilized but can't find anything on the net about it or I should say don't know how to look for such.
I would imagine the gen sets self contained but fueled with gasoline or diesel I'm thinking.

None of the above. They carried their 'extension cords' on large reels on the back that wound it in and out depending on how the shovel moved and they didn't move a lot, didn't have to. The cord if you want to call it that was about the size of your leg and it was run to a substation provided by the electricity supplier. If you go to You Tube and search for the 'Silver Spade', there are a few videos on there and a couple of them show the back end with the cord reels. My dad was one of the analytical chemists that worked on perfecting the high strength alloy's used in the Spade. He worked at the long gone Republic Steel and he got to be there when it was put into operation near Cadiz, Ohio and I got to tag along when I was a kid.

I still remember it quite well actually. it made no noise other than the cables winding up on the drums and some squeaking it was basically a silent giant. it was so big it had an elevator inside in the center so you could get to the upper floors. Had it's own machine shop and cafeteria for the workers on it. Just the crawler tracks were 15 feet high and if I remember correctly, there were 6 sets of them. I believe Bucyrus-Erie made the tracks and designed the entire machine and put it together.

The operator sat in a cab that stuck out from the side of the main house so he could see everything and the bucket was big enough to put a 2 story house in with room to spare.

All it did was remove the overburden so the coal seam was exposed to be removed.

If I'm not mistaken, quite a few of the BE shovels of that day were also electric powered.

Do a YT search for it. There are a few good video's of it in action and one about how it was dismantled or should I say blown apart. Big Muskie suffered the same fate (blown apart with shaped charges and scrapped).

The Spade, Muskie and Gem of Egypt really laid waste to the area surrounding Cadiz, Ohio. That was prior to reclamation being enacted.

 

[5030]

Google P&H 4100 xpb. We had them at the mine I worked at.

Small potatoes compared to the 'Big 3'...

 

[MossRoad]

None of the above. They carried their 'extension cords' on large reels on the back that wound it in and out depending on how the shovel moved and they didn't move a lot, didn't have to. The cord if you want to call it that was about the size of your leg and it was run to a substation provided by the electricity supplier. If you go to You Tube and search for the 'Silver Spade', there are a few videos on there and a couple of them show the back end with the cord reels. My dad was one of the analytical chemists that worked on perfecting the high strength alloy's used in the Spade. He worked at the long gone Republic Steel and he got to be there when it was put into operation near Cadiz, Ohio and I got to tag along when I was a kid.

I still remember it quite well actually. it made no noise other than the cables winding up on the drums and some squeaking it was basically a silent giant. it was so big it had an elevator inside in the center so you could get to the upper floors. Had it's own machine shop and cafeteria for the workers on it. Just the crawler tracks were 15 feet high and if I remember correctly, there were 6 sets of them. I believe Bucyrus-Erie made the tracks and designed the entire machine and put it together.

The operator sat in a cab that stuck out from the side of the main house so he could see everything and the bucket was big enough to put a 2 story house in with room to spare.

All it did was remove the overburden so the coal seam was exposed to be removed.

If I'm not mistaken, quite a few of the BE shovels of that day were also electric powered.

Do a YT search for it. There are a few good video's of it in action and one about how it was dismantled or should I say blown apart. Big Muskie suffered the same fate (blown apart with shaped charges and scrapped).

The Spade, Muskie and Gem of Egypt really laid waste to the area surrounding Cadiz, Ohio. That was prior to reclamation being enacted.

The Silver Spade had 8 crawlers - one double crawler on each corner. They were about 8' high.

 

[5030]

When I was a little tyke they seemed like 16 feet....

I still remember coming up on it. Dad was driving and I was gawking. All you could see was the top of the stick over the piles of dirt and rocks. Until you got down to where it was you (at least I) didn't have a clue how big it was.

I remember when they drove it over Interstate 77 too. They piled dirt I think 16 feet deep over the interstate so they could drive it across.

Machines of a long gone era.