Electric Tractors

Looking to talk with an owner of a Solectrac electric tractor.  I was looking for a small farm tractor with electric drive and came across one in Mendocino CA They dont have any dealers or customers in Canada that I can find.
My interest in electric drive started with trying to find alternatives to paying our carbon tax on fuel here in Canada. In my search looking for options I learned that burning 1 gallon of diesel takes 1.4 gallons of water out of the air and exhausts 22.4 lbs. of  CO2.  That convinced me that electric is the way I want to go.
Thanks
Jim

Jim,

Interesting figures you have there.  I am curious though as to how burning diesel fuel removed water from the air.  I get the 22 pounds of CO2, but I would assume that burning any hydrocarbon would increase airborne water as H2O is a byproduct of burning hydrocarbons.

I don’t have the specific information you are looking for and I actually find the idea of electric vehicles very interesting.  However I have seen the energy densities for both diesel and the very best performing lithium ion battery (and even more exotic magnesium and aluminum batteries) and the comparison is not even close—the diesel fuel far outperforms even the very best battery.

Jim,  I am absolutely not trying to be negative here, I just want to understand how the electric tractor works.  I would love to hear the cliff notes version.

Eric

Jim,

I just peeked at the Solartec tractor and I am intrigued.  Do you know if they offer a front end loader?

Eric

Solectrac is mentioned in Paul's 12 year old topic:

paul wheaton wrote:I have this page bookmarked and have visited the page about 50 times ....

http://www.renewables.com/Permaculture/ETractorSpecs.htm

Paul's 12 year old Electric Tractor Link

Jim, Burl, everyone,

The electric tractor has me very intrigued.  I still have an issue with batteries as the power supply.  As Paul put it in his post from a decade ago, you don’t go far from an outlet.

There is, however, a technology for which I perpetually hold out hope.  That would be the fuel cell.  For those who don’t know, a fuel cell is sort of a hybrid between a gas or diesel or other internal combustion engine and a battery.  It is fueled by some (usually liquid) fuel but converts the chemical energy directly into electricity and of course some waste heat.  About 20 years ago there was a lot of hype about the fuel cell and how much more efficiently it would produce electricity.

Unfortunately the development has stalled out, but I hold out hope that these miracle machines can someday be made to work.

Eric

I am "green" to the subject.  I found a tractor built in Russia that is a diesel electric power unit that claims to do the same amount of field work on 15% less fuel which I suppose is an net energy gain from not having a transmission. The start at 360 hp. 10 times what I was looking for.

I did learn that they (Solectrac) have a quick attach loader coming soon from Westendorf in Onawa Iowa.

On the water discussion I have friends in the tractor pull game that tell me they can pull up to 3 lbs. of atmospheric water per gallon of diesel.

The 1.4 gallons of water from a gallon of diesel figure I was using came from this website.  
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/oee/pdf/transportation/fuel-efficient-technologies/autosmart_factsheet_6_e.pdf

I did some poking around at a couple of electric car dealerships. The mechanics dont like the EV's because they only come in for brakes and tires.  The salespeople are ambivalent. I did talk to some EV owners and of course they sold themselves.  Their only thing on their wish list is longer fun times and more plug in locations on the highways.  They have to carefully plan their trips around places to recharge.

Thanks for the reply

I'd love an electric tractor, and am interested in any owner responses.

I'm very skeptical of their hydraulic-free design, though. They state that they are using linear actuators due to greater strength vs hydraulics, but the stats they list are pretty poor. Presumably this is because they are using more affordable linear actuators... or maybe they are trying to keep the tractor weight down?

There are in theory more environmentally friendly biodegradable hydraulic fluid options..


A low lift loader is that can lift 1000lbs is... pretty useless IMO. Thinking back over the last dozen times I have used my loader on my diesel 50HP, this one maybe would have worked for 1 of them.

And, loader work would be a primary purpose of an electric tractor IMO; it doesn't have the power or runtime to mow or bale or subsoil or grade all day, but if it had a 2000lb high lift loader it would be absoutely perfect for scraping a barn, unloading a truck or trailer, moving things about... loading logs onto the sawmill... all sorts of relatively short duration tasks, often with some stop and go leaving the diesel idling..

As it is I try to line up several of these things and run the tractor for a morning rather than warming it up tondo one quick task, but sometimes this is inconvenient or impossible..

Funny you should bring that up D Nikolls - I had much the same concern and e-mailed Solectrac a few days ago.  I just got an answer back a few minutes ago. Apparently they are going with hydraulics for implements and the loaders now for the very reasons you mention.
The lift capacity has not been tested but by the engineering estimates are 2300 lbs. breakaway and 1650 lbs lift.

in my digging about I found a small ripper cultivator combination in Ohio that should work on these tractors. https://www.farmbuilt.net/

Jim Boak wrote:Funny you should bring that up D Nikolls - I had much the same concern and e-mailed Solectrac a few days ago.  I just got an answer back a few minutes ago. Apparently they are going with hydraulics for implements and the loaders now for the very reasons you mention.
The lift capacity has not been tested but by the engineering estimates are 2300 lbs. breakaway and 1650 lbs lift.

in my digging about I found a small ripper cultivator combination in Ohio that should work on these tractors. https://www.farmbuilt.net/

Well that's encouraging!

To me above 2000lbs is ideal, because a minibulk bag of feed, an IBC full of water, and a medium girth 12' fir log for milling all clock in at about 2000, and sometimes a fee hundred over. But 1650 and the ability to lift a thing out of a pickup bed(a tall thing, with slings, so needing way more height than you would think) would be far more useful than the one pictured on their site!


This is another one of those things I can't afford... but I sure hope they become common ASAP so that I can one day.

It would be great if some new companies carved out spaces in this realm while the opportunity exists; the heavily consolidated major equipment companies could really use some competition with different viewpoints and hopefully a DIY friendly approach!

lol - lets buy them out and get rich ... lol