• buzz86us@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    🤣🤣🤣🤣 There are dozens of companies making electric tractors, AND in a rural area it is much more viable to have solar panels than to rely on the next diesel delivery, or make long trips to the nearest filling station.

    Areas with solar panels are even posting higher crop yields.

    • drhugsymcfur@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      I’m sorry, can you point me to some of these dozens of companies making electric tractors? My farm could be in the market for a new tractor with equivalent run time and power capacity as our current JD 7R 270.

      https://www.deere.com/en/tractors/row-crop-tractors/row-crop-7-family/7r-270-tractor/

      I’ve tried searching for equivalents online and I’m struggling.

      Also not to move the goalposts, but I tried searching for an EV combine that can run a 14hr day during harvest with no downtime and I wasn’t able to find anything.
      Could you please point me towards some sources that would be available for the '26 harvest season?

      Call me a sealion or whatever you will, but those products aren’t available there is no EV market for full time farm equipment and there is nothing on the horizon other than some nice looking 3D renders and proposed spec sheets.

    • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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      2 days ago

      I think you misunderstand the economic choice that smaller farms are making. When you can get a 50 year old workhorse tractor for 20k that you can actually maintain yourself, it makes far more sense than any 200k+ tractor whether diesel or electric. Additionally folks are used to diesel, they’ve already got a big tank on the property that they refill every few months, and they might not have sufficient electrical connection to get several of the giant swapable battery packs for their tractors and keep one on the charge while they work.

      If farmers were starting from scratch, sure it might make sense to go all solar and all electric, but these are folks who are constantly squeezed for cash, constantly relying on crop insurance and well-timed loans and subsidies to stay afloat living on 200 year old farms that have been in the family since the land was stolen from the native Americans, and probably still using the equipment dad bought in the 60s and 70s because that’s the most financially viable option.

        • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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          1 day ago

          That’s one of the reasons why many smaller farms run 50-70 year old tractors, they’re machines designed to be maintained and kept running indefinitely so we have farmers using literal antiques to get work done. Literally they’ll drive off the field to the antique tractor ride then head back to the field to finish the days work after the ride.