ALL ABOUT TRACTORS

 By PAUL WALLEM

There are over 1 million FFA members in the U.S., yet most have never operated a tractor. They don’t live on a farm. Vo-Ag instructors say their FFA chapter members often ask what a tractor is used for. Listed below are some of those uses; yet, worldwide, a tractor can be doing hundreds of different jobs.

U.S. on-farm tractor uses: cultivate, plow, disk, mulch, plant, rake, mow, bale, dig post holes, power irrigation pumps, move snow, feed cattle, fertilize, belt pulley jobs, and more.

U.S. off-farm tractor jobs: roadside mowing, backhoe, wood shredding, loader/forklift, rotary cutter, scarifier/land leveler, road leveling, landplane, snow removal, road building, excavating, mining operations, golf-ball retrieval, museum displays.

One business and financial magazine recently estimated that tractor use off the farm is approaching 40 percent.

A tractor ride – but different!

Tractor ride events continue in many locations, but with adult drivers. A different event was part of the 27th annual Farm Breakfast hosted by Winnebago/Boone Farm Bureau. Held this year near Caledonia, Ill., rides were offered for $5. A large part of the 1,200 attendees were from towns, and kids of all ages wanted rides. They were accompanied by the owners of the antique tractors. Mike Silberhorn’s Farmall B had 2 seats (but just one steering wheel).

Big smiles were everywhere as parents and grandparents took photos of their loved ones. Lots of excitement from a first tractor ride. At the end of her ride, a 5-year-old girl formed a heart with her hands to show her appreciation.

This is a great idea for future farm events. All of us who grew up on a farm remember our first tractor ride. Most youngsters now live in towns, and we should give them that same experience.

Tractor autonomy (driverless)

This tractor technology continues to receive extensive press coverage and growing investment from tractor manufacturers, yet experiences slow actual usage growth.

Many feel it is the solution to agriculture’s labor gap. It’s more likely that autonomy will partner with humans, at least for the near future.

Various approaches are in process for driverless equipment. One is supervised autonomy, which involves tractors operating with a supervisory operator present, utilizing vehicle-to-vehicle technology. A wireless connection exists between two vehicles, allowing them to share and exchange data. The lead vehicle determines speed and direction, which is then transmitted to the driverless tractor to imitate. An example of this is the control of a grain cart tractor for combine unloading. Others use a GPS-programmed route for the tractor to receive guidance.

Earlier estimates predicted faster growth for tractor autonomy than is happening. Large grain operations, for instance, are still relying on people. Even though autonomous equipment may allow for faster growth and efficiency, there are more tasks to be done on the farm than just operating equipment, so humans continue to be needed.

Certain operations do make good use of driverless equipment. Feed pushing in dairy operations frees up labor. Keeping feed in front of cows is repetitive and programmable.

Another is mowing sod farms, which must be done often and in a given area.

Labor-intensive fruit farms and vineyards are struggling to hire enough employees, and are now buying this equipment, which can be remotely controlled by a supervisor.

It appears that farm labor cannot be easily replaced by technology, but some operations are better suited than others.

Another Burma Shave sign from the past: “Drove too long, driver snoozing - what happened next - is not amusing.”

Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH in domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. Email your comments to pwallem@aol.com.