why are tractors slow?

[Nightshade]

Sat behind one today got me thinking. Why are they so slow?

Yes, I know they're heavy, but the last one I worked on had an 8.5l diesel engine. Arctic wagons have no problem humming along at 50-60 so why am I doing 22mph?
You'd think it was just a matter of gearing the things right...

[Welly]

Because they don't need to be fast? - you can't do farming at 60MPH.

Some are quite fast; I've seen some with four equal-sized wheels called 'Fast Trac' or something and they shift (seem to be used for towing stuff) but the traditional 'big wheels at the back and small on the front' well they can only plod along and to be fair the drivers seem to have a fight on their hands just keeping the thing in a straight line at 20MPH

I hope Farmerpug sees this.

[steve_earwig]

They could be faster, it would need another set of gears and that would add to expense and weight, so they don't. Oh, and Welly's right about their handling, they're dangerous enough at a walking pace.

Don't get me started on bluddy tractors, where I live there are loads of smallholdings and tractors are a regular sight everywhere as they belch and rattle their way to do a bit of ploughing, or belch, rattle and spread mud everywhere on their way back, all at a steady 29kmh. At least they seem to have to have passed some kind of mot now, so they all have lights that kind of work, as well as a warning triangle and an actual silencer.

The farmers were blockading the motorway junctions with them a few weeks back, apparently they weren't happy with the subsidies they got. Asking about, nobody seemed to have much sympathy as they'd mostly spent the handouts they got earlier in the year on a fleet of BMWs or something, and because it was a particularly dry year this year most of the crops didn't come to much so they realised they should have held on to the money instead of spending it.

[scotty73]

you can't do farming at 60MPH.

Why not? Now that's a video I'd love to see.

I hope Farmerpug sees this.

[steve_earwig]

Btw I spotted this again on Frank's (famerpug) Youtoob feed:
pixNWRO1bxQ

[FarmerPug]

The volvo turbo tractor is a fine machine, every farm should have one, you wouldn't need to worry about hooking up the plough when the wheels do just as good a job.

on a more realistic note
Most old tractors will do about 20mph, the average new one has a 40k box meaning 40kph, some like the fast trac can go even faster.

But tractors are not meant to be fast, they have to do slow jobs like ploughing, cutting silage, or towing, torque is more important and as a result they are geared up appropriately, the gearing restricts the top speed.
If you drive some tractors at their top speed you will know that any faster would be a bad idea, normally they have no suspension and very basic steering neither of which is setup for good handling, add the fact that most old farmers here never bother looking into things like worn out steering bushings making the things even less stable.

Any time im in the tractor i check regularly if there are any cars behind me and pull in at the first opportunity, but a lot of the feckers driving them never look around, and never pull in even when there is a hard shoulder.

Our biggest tractor is a renault 106.54, which has a 6.1 6cyl turbo engine, yet it wont go past 30kph

[scotty73]

Btw I spotted this again on Frank's (famerpug) Youtoob feed:
pixNWRO1bxQ

Brilliant.

[steve_earwig]

but a lot of the feckers driving them never look around, and never pull in even when there is a hard shoulder.

They'd fit in here well then

[benczuk]

Btw I spotted this again on Frank's (famerpug) Youtoob feed:

Makes me wonder how Farmerpug finds any time for actual farming... too busy making frankenmachines.

EDIT: watches video and realises tractor not made by farmer

[steve_earwig]

Too busy detonating airbags and making funny films

Btw I've spent a while looking through your vids Frank, there's some damn useful stuff there boy!

[Nightshade]

It all drives me insane. Why don't tractors have any suspension, is it all in the seat and tyre sidewall?
I'm sure it can't be that hard to swap one of the 39 low ratio crawling gears for a long one to use when they escape the field.

[Doggy]

What you don't realise is that the entire network of WW2 fighter control rooms has been re-allocated to Tractor Control.

Via this network, the dedicated staff are able to respond to any reports of free-flowing traffic by deploying a tractor or combine harvester at a moments notice.

I'm beginning to think crane hire companies get drafted in to help out at harvest time.

[rwb]

Why don't tractors have any suspension, is it all in the seat and tyre sidewall?

Implements that go in the ground need to be fixed relative to the wheels in order to control their depth. Think about what happens to a plough when you go from level ground to an incline -- it digs in. The tractor automatically lifts it according to the draught control settings.

While we're here:

I think the pointy knob pretty much corresponds to heavy/light, but then what is the sensitivity knob for? I never worked this out.

The cab is usually on rubber mounts that let it wobble about a bit. As the tractor stops sometimes you can see the cab continuing to wobble about. The seats are mounted on a suspension unit -- of various quality.

It was common on the 6 and 12 forward speed arrangements to have 3rd much longer than 2nd so that low-3 is faster than high-1 on the 6-speed. I can't remember the order on the 12 speed.

[Welly]

Via this network, the dedicated staff are able to respond to any reports of free-flowing traffic by deploying a tractor or combine harvester at a moments notice.

I'm beginning to think crane hire companies get drafted in to help out at harvest time.

Yes you are correct Sir, and later the successful programme was rolled-out to include the deployment of Caravan towing Petrol-engined Vauxhall Vectras on twisting/hilly B-Roads......at peak times.

[steve_earwig]

...combine harvester...

Bluddy great behemoths of doom! At least there's only a few about but the damn things are bigger than a single carriageway so they're a bastid to get past in either direction. No tax or insurance either, so I'm told.

Implements that go in the ground need to be fixed relative to the wheels in order to control their depth. Think about what happens to a plough when you go from level ground to an incline -- it digs in. The tractor automatically lifts it according to the draught control settings.

All they are really is a sodding great transmission and engine with a seat on top.

While we're here:

I think the pointy knob pretty much corresponds to heavy/light, but then what is the sensitivity knob for? I never worked this out.

What the f..? They all look like this round here: