Electric-Powered Tractors Date Back To The 1930's
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In the 1930's Mr. H.G. (Pete) Kepm, engineer for the Ashburton Electric Power Board on the South Island of New Zealand, designed a tractor driven by an electric motor. The motivation for the move to electrics was to increase local demand for electric power. New Zealand has a lot of hydroelectric power.
The input power came from the high-tension mains-power lines. These were in turn linked to the tractor by a feeder cable from a transformer mounted on a nearby truck. The voltage supplied to the field was 6,600 volts using heavy galvanized wire. The 30 kVA transformer on the truck broke that down to 440 volts for the tractor's motor. The machine looked cumbersome, but it actually worked quite well. The feeder cable passed from the transformer through the pivoting turret into the tractor.
Eight machines were built, based mainly on the chassis of the 18-36 Hart Parr. In total, the 8 tractors logged more than 8,000 hours, working over a 7-year period. In the end, however, tractors driven by fossil fuels proved cheaper to operate.
Now the idea of exploiting electric power in tractors is making a comeback. Deere in Europe has an E-Tractor, as does Belarus in the Ukraine with on-board generator to deliver 172kW DC shaftless power to front or rear drives.
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Electric-Powered Tractors Date Back To The 1930 a AG WORLD Ag World In the 1930 s Mr H G Pete Kepm engineer for the Ashburton Electric Power Board on the South Island of New Zealand designed a tractor driven by an electric motor The motivation for the move to electrics was to increase local demand for electric power New Zealand has a lot of hydroelectric power
The input power came from the high-tension mains-power lines These were in turn linked to the tractor by a feeder cable from a transformer mounted on a nearby truck The voltage supplied to the field was 6 600 volts using heavy galvanized wire The 30 kVA transformer on the truck broke that down to 440 volts for the tractor s motor The machine looked cumbersome but it actually worked quite well The feeder cable passed from the transformer through the pivoting turret into the tractor
Eight machines were built based mainly on the chassis of the 18-36 Hart Parr In total the 8 tractors logged more than 8 000 hours working over a 7-year period In the end however tractors driven by fossil fuels proved cheaper to operate
Now the idea of exploiting electric power in tractors is making a comeback Deere in Europe has an E-Tractor as does Belarus in the Ukraine with on-board generator to deliver 172kW DC shaftless power to front or rear drives
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