Looking for some advice from Farmers...

[researcher1987vt]

I'm a design student at Virginia Tech and i'm trying to design a new steering wheel for a tractor, but i don't know too much about farming or tractors in general. As you all would know a heck of a lot more than me about tractors and farming, what are you all looking for in a steering wheel?

Please email me jacob87@vt.edu with any comments on how to make a better tractor steering wheel, or post in this thread. I'd prefer email to posts, but i'll check back on both quite a bit.

Thanks!

-Jacob

 

[tallyho8]

Take my 1982 Yanmar steering wheel off and install a 2008 Yanmar under it. I'm sure this will be a vast improvement.

 

[CharlieTR]

Well I guess tractors are a lot different from cars and trucks.
Only go around 15 MPH max, some real big one can go 20 MPH or more.
People can bounce out of tractor real easy because the seat is only susspension on the tractor. I think most improvements of tractors would be something other than steering wheel. But if you are set on steering wheel the only thing I can think of is along the line a the whole system. A tractor cannot be go faster than its max speed, even when towed by truck. The tractor will oscillate its front wheels violently and then will crash and flip.
Doubt that's much help to you.

Another thing about tractors is death rates from roll overs. Often people cannot react in time to save a tractor from rolling sideways or straight backwards. Sometimes people forget which way to turn when driving sideways cross a hill, they try and turn up the hill rather than down the hill, resulting in roll over. I have hills I cross all the time, my biggest problem is tipping backwards crossing a ditch with cutter on back. If not looking at the front wheels, every second I cannot tell when the front wheels are off the ground.

Nothing, nothing, NOTHING stops the back wheels of a tractor when good traction is present. The tractor will totally climb straight up that tree or drive the back wheels completely through the front wheels.

Anyway one idea might be to install a clinometer (sp?) (Tilt meter) along with a steering wheel shaker, like airplanes have, when tilt is too much. Maybe a voice warning when crossing a hill advising to turn down hill.

 

[CharlieTR]

You might want to consider incorporating a locking removal mechanism that allows the wheel to be easily removed from the tractor by means of a key. That might prove useful in helping to prevent casual theft - especially when the tractor has to be left outside for some reason.

S1

Yeh that a good one, tractors are stolen all the time, mostly construction tractors I think. Tractors do not have titles like cars and boats. Many have a kill switch that must be set right before it will start. Maybe a thumb print scanner on the steering wheel.

 

[SnowRidge]

The steering wheel should be comfortable to hold and absorb shocks, instead of transmitting them to the operator's body. Most tractors have no suspension and can really jar the operator on rough ground.

 

[jdbower]

There are a few neat things you can do as an engineering student, but as a design student I'm guessing you're looking mostly at the physical design of the wheel than the steering mechanisms. With tractors often the old ways are preferred, if you come up with a revolutionary design a lot of people won't buy it. I like the idea of a lock (three positions, unlocked, locked to prevent turning, and remove the wheel) and having some amount of cushioning may be nice.

Some answers would also depend on what type of tractor you're looking at. A small tractor may be best modeled after a car steering wheel since a lot of those owners are homeowner rather than farmers. A mid-sized tractor tends to appeal to the more traditional farmers so a few simple tweaks would be better than anything complex or revolutionary, but knowing if you're building for a tractor with a cab vs. an open tractor may help with some ideas. The very large high tech tractors can be programmed to drive themselves using GPS and are multi-ton monsters that can drive nearly as fast as a car, they've got very different needs and a very different set of owners than most of the people you'll find here.

Also remember that if your professor is also a design major with no real farming experience you can ignore anything you see here and model it after a concept car - what a design professor things is a great design often has little basis in reality Things like choosing a deformable material so the farmer doesn't get pinned by the wheel when he flips his tractor would win you points in the virtual world, but in the real world I doubt it would do a lick of good and you'd have people falling over the hood when they lean on the wheel to position their forks. Another good fluff feature (that requires a lot more engineering to actually implement) would be to have a laser at the top of the wheel able to be aimed at a fixed post; this setup could be used as a rangefinder, a speedometer, and you could track wheel slippage and realign so the tractor heads towards the post. In reality I think this would be horribly complex to implement, most people wouldn't want to have to deploy the homing posts every 10 feet or so, and driving a tractor handsfree is not the best of ideas - but it sounds neat.

 

[DocHeb]

My son had to design a better car seat for his engineering project. Personally, I think the professors take the best ideas from the students and patent them for themselves.

For you project, find a way to put a spinner into the wheel edge that could be retracted and extended as needed.

 

[researcher1987vt]

thanks a lot guys! keep the tips coming! if it's really true what you're saying about the steering wheel being something not so important, let me know something on a tractor that would Benefit from good design.

 

[MicroPilot]

...let me know something on a tractor that would Benefit from good design.

Seat suspension. Most seats use some type of spring or a cylinder to cushion the ride. IMO these do next to nothing.

How about a simple system to improve visibility around the tractor, especially the front end.

 

[Egon]

On another approach discard the steering wheel and design a direction control device that electrically controls the steering system. Maybe a joy stick with throttle, brake, and transmission shifting controls all integrated in a stick much like an aircraft.

The way in which the functions are installed could make for some interesting combinations.

Or maybe a roller ball the palm of your hand activates.

Lots of different systems you could work on that would eliminate the steering wheel itself.