Talk:Tractor

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[edit] Moroccan manufacturers

WHO ARE THE MAJOR MANUFACTURERS OF AGRICULTURE TRACTORS IN MOROCCO. WHAT IS THE CONTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT HP-WISE SEGMENT OF TRACTORS. SCOPE OF IMPORT OF TRACTORS TO MOROCCO. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.168.76.219 (talk • contribs) 23:34, 3 September 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Personal experience

Most of what I contributed on tractors comes from personal knowledge and experience working with a variety of tractors on my dad's farm. I've personally operated tractors ranging from an old IH 460 up to a John Deere 8110. I've operated tractors for nearly 20 years.

I also personally knew someone who died when the tractor he was on rolled over and crushed him. It was cases like his which was the reason why ROPS was added to farm tractors. JesseG 04:35, 15 May 2004 (UTC)


I've added a bit about the foot throttle being a feature of modern tractors. Older tractors didn't usually have foot throttles - that's a more recent invention. I'm not sure when it became a standard feature, but every tractor we've accquired over the past 20 years has had a foot throttle. JesseG 21:45, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Backhoe loader image

We need a better picture of a backhoe loader. I have a few pictures from the internet, but I don't about their copytright situation. MathKnight 17:50, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Differences?

I enjoy learning new things, hence my reading your article. I find it very interesting and informative. I came across the descriptor "row crop tractor, utility tractor, and loader tractor". I now know how the loader tractor differs from the basic tractor. However, I am curious to know how the row crop and utility tractors are different. Would you please explain the differences? Thanks.

About Row Crop tractors, I found the following information:
Row Crop Tractors
Early in 1930, the Oliver company refined its "Row Crop" tractor with two small drive wheels in front spaced closely together and "tip-toed" in. This design essentially produced a tricycle tractor. The closely spaced front wheels allowed the tractor move easily down the rows of corn or soybeans. A row crop tractor could cultivate a field as well as plow it. Through the 30s, row crop tractors became more and more popular.
taken from http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/machines_04.html .
The term utility tractor probably relates to the ordinary tractor, with a PTO box built-in. MathKnight 17:19, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The most distinguishing feature of Row Crop tractors is that the wheel spacing (between left & right tires) can be adjusted. These also tend to have higher ground clearance than a utility tractors. They are made so they can be driven between the rows of crops like corn and (sometimes) soybeans. The rear wheels of utility tractors are often wider than those on a Row-Crop tractor as well. Also "Backhoes" are not often referred to as tractors in my region. I've also never heard of a big "Loader" referred to as a tractor. 30 Aug 2004

[edit] Role of tractors

I'm very fond of the quaint role of tractors in the context of the American Family Farm. In the Rural Mid-west, I experienced the tractor as a driver and user of one. To this day, the sensory overload i get around them thrusts me back in time to simpler and happier days.

Some people think of Farm Tractors as being 'clunky', base and just in the way. ( traffic safety road rage )

I think of them as robust machines that are vital components necessary to survival. I view them as eloquent in their own some-times comical way.

Quinobi 17:19, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Redirect from Traktor

I was redirected from a search on 'Traktor', the video production company, to here. Not sure that redirect's entirely sensible as who would spell 'tractor' as 'traktor'. 81.156.49.248 02:51, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

  • I see a new article has been created there, so no longer an issue. -- Satori Son 15:02, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
>"who would spell 'tractor' as 'traktor'[?]"
Hey man, 80 million Germans can't be wrong, right? :-)
Deutsch: Traktor
Русский: трактор
— Lumbercutter 03:02, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] We need more history

There must be more history! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.226.108.198 (talk • contribs)

[edit] Big Bud is still listed as "current manufacturers"

The Big Bud tractor has been out of production for a number of years. I created a short article about that tractor which had the distinction of being the largest tractor on the market for a long time. This manufacturer is considered quite noteworthy in the tractor industry, but apparently not the case for Wikipedia. I see it has been removed. If others agree we should have an article about Big Bud, please indicate so, and we can resubmit it. Landroo 12:51, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Slasher attachment

I don't know what a slasher attachment is, but when I clicked on the link it sent me to slasher as in the genre of horror movie, which I assume isn't right. --SHCGRA Max 13:04, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Power requirements for PTO operation

Many manufacturer's of equipment designed for connecting to the power take off (PTO) on a tractor specify the power required to operate the equipment (such as a mower) but do not specify if this is the power at the PTO shaft or the engine. Does anyone know if there is a standard of how this should be stated by the manufacturer or indeed if there is a standard and if so where is this standard published? Also, is it a universal standard or a local or country standard? Does anyone know what it is, that is, power at engine or PTO? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Barnicle bill (talk • contribs) 13:37, 28 August 2006 (UTC) The power take off is determined by the horsepower of the tractor. If you read the specifications of a tractor, it will give you the power take off rating at a specific rpm. This is also variable by the use of different splines on the power take off itself. Most midrange tractors with a pto has a reversible shaft with different splines on each side.Jmsseal 02:01, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Current Manufacturers

I have removed the content from the "Current Manufacturers" section for two reasons:

  1. It is ungainly, taking up over half of the article space, and rapidly becoming difficult to properly manage and verify.
  2. It is redundant. A proper link to "List of tractor manufacturers" is already included, which is entirely duplicative of the info here.

If you disagree, discussion is welcome, of course. Thanks, Satori Son 14:56, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Add a Link?

Does anyone think we should add a link to the following site - [http://earlyhistory.googlepages.com/historyofearlytractors History of Early Tractors] - Please give your reasoning as to why or why not! Thanks - West wikipedia —The preceding unsigned comment was added by West wikipedia (talk • contribs) 18:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC).

As before - same reason - Because it does not cite it's sources, doesn't add anything already in Wikipedia, the site is non-notable i.e. it hasn't been cited as an authority by other reliable sources and it's authors are completely unknown. In fact if I google for earlyhistory googlepages com I get nothing. Please read WP:WEB (under criteria), WP:RS (e.g. Non-scholarly sources) and WP:NOTABLE and ideally please solve this one link first before you start posting to all the other entries you've been trying to make. Ttiotsw 18:47, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
Ttiotsw, thanks for you help on this. WW says he has given up and gone away now. Dicklyon 20:26, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Be careful what you write...

On checking an external link, that turned out to be 'spam', I was reminded how WP has become the original source for most other information on the internet. You must have come across 'mirror sites' with old copies of WP pages. Well, the following text was found on that spam link (www.tractorretails.com). It looks like it has been translated to [some language] and then auto-translated back. I haven't tried to work out how old the original WP source was, but (as at 22:27, 15 February 2007 (UTC)) the relationship to this article is still clear!

I promise I haven't changed a word! Enjoy...

The tractor verbally came from the Latin word trahere, meaning jerk. Today, tractors are useful for extracting, towing or the tractional objects that are extremely difficult of moving . You commonly see that a tractor at farms used pushing agricultural machineries or trailers that plow or that you field the harrow.
The first tractors of the 1800s and previous 1900s, they were powered by steam-driven machines. These tractors were phased out due to the instability of the steam engine that caused explosions for him, or caught the driver's in a belt driven attachment. Successors were strengthened with an internal combustion engine.
The modern tractors are built with a renewable system ( registered options principals ) of protection that protects the operator to be squashed in the event that the vehicle turns around . The legislation went from New Zealand that first that registered options principals be incorporated for tractors in the 1960s required . Before this system be required, many farmers were killed in accidents when tractors rolled on them topside, squashing them in the process. Usually these accidents happen when tractors were driven to I deliver it of steep slopes.
The technology has found his form in modernizing the tractor. Nowadays, you find than Global Positioning Systems ( the GPS ) and the computers of they jammed an embargo to grow tractors in meeting. With advance guard's use of technology, corporate scale's farms are using a combination of not manned tractors and vehicles manually driven to work hard in commands.
In addition to the standard farm tractors, there are another types of tractors. There the tractors of the backhoe used for construction, small demolitions are, and light transportation, energizing constructing equipment, digging holes, breaking asphalt and paving roads. Tractors also can be worn with designing tools for the purposes of the construction. The road's tractors that are often destined stops they transport transfer tickets they are available also, and the locomotive's tractors are used in the railroad's vehicles. The tractors of the artillery used by the military to tow the artillery's pieces also can show.

Tee hee hee -- EdJogg 22:27, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Redirect from Agricultural Vehicle

Not all agricultural vehicles are tractors and vice versa. Is there a better way to classify these subjects and include other ag. vehicles? eg. Combine harvester, Agricultural Quad etc. I'm sure there must be a few more sub headings.(86.21.47.79 (talk) 15:22, 1 April 2008 (UTC))

[edit] Definition of tractors

According to the definition in the first sentence of the present version of this article, tractors are vehicles that draw, tow, push, or pull something. However, some types of tractors don't draw, tow, push, or pull anything; for example, lawn tractors mentioned further down in this article. Tractors are hard to define exactly. I don't know what a better definition would be. H Padleckas 01:41, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

We have the same problem at crane (machine) – everyone knows what a crane is, but you try and produce a definition that covers every kind!
The terms 'draw', 'tow' and 'pull' all mean much the same thing, so there is immediate scope for simplification.
How about this for starters?:
A tractor is a vehicle designed to provide a high tractive effort at slow speeds
 for the purposes of hauling an implement or a trailer. The implement may be towed
 behind or mounted on the tractor, which may also provide a source of power if the
 implement is mechanised.
(Then a section describing the different vehicles described by the word 'tractor')
As for the lawn tractor: if it is only cutting grass then it is a ride-on lawn mower; if it is pulling something or carrying an implement, then it is effectively a tractor (and would fit the above description), so you need not worry about them too much.
EdJogg 12:46, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
Update:
Having just re-noticed my above comments, and as no-one else had undertaken an edit, I've revised the article introduction, using the above text as a basis. I think the new version is more precise, although there is obviously scope for adjusting my wording!
-- EdJogg 10:04, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology of the word tractor

I question the etymology currently given (combining "traction" and "motor"), and I think that it may be a folk etymology. My Latin references give two relevant Latin verbs. They follow (principal parts listed):

trāctō, trāctāre, trāctāvī, trāctātum    (lit.) drag about; (fig.) handle, treat, discuss (a subject)
trahō, trahere, trāxī, tractum    (lit.) draw, drag; (fig.) derive, get

(BTW, these verbs evolved into the Spanish tratar and traer.)

One doesn't need to combine English traction and motor to get from the Latin verbs trahere and tractare to the (neo-)noun tractor. Sadly, I am extremely remedial in Latin these days, but nevertheless, given that -or/-tor/-dor is a standard Latin/Romance suffix to name a person who does the action named by a verb (e.g., Latin salvator, Spanish salvador; Latin aspirator, Spanish aspirador/aspiradora), I think you start with trāctāre and instantly arrive at tractor as "the one that drags/pulls".

We should remember also that tractor appeared in English around 1900, give or take—coining New Latin hadn't quite yet gone out of style at the time.

— Lumbercutter 02:15, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

You are right. The "traction motor" thing is apocryphal; the OED gives the etymology as from Lat. trahere. The word itself dates back to at least the 1700's in English, referring more generally to anything which pulls something; the specific use for this type of tractor, of course, had to wait until the early 1900's, since it didn't previously exist. And the site linked for the false etymology is really more of a history of the tractor; it doesn't even argue about etymology, as far as I can tell, so it seems mostly irrelevant. So I'm deleting it. A side note: Latin agent nouns in -(t)or are usually from the fourth principal part, so "tractor" is from trahere (4th pp. stem tract- + -tor), not from tractare (which would produce "tractator"). 66.31.47.139 16:58, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
Thanks! I added 2 refs. — Lumbercutter 17:16, 22 September 2007 (UTC)