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Open Source Tractor

opensourceecology.dozuki.com

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Re: Open Source Tractor

#11

Post by intrepidhero »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #5

I wonder why the frame is made out of bolted beams with holes in them, are bolts and holed beams easy to find or something? I mean I can imagine that if you have the tools to build those, you'd have a welder as well. Granted, welding might be a bit more challenging than cutting beams and drilling holes.

Perforated steel tube is a readily available material and a ratchet is a cheaper and much lower skill tool than a welder. Also seems like customization is one of the project goals.

I would imagine that if wanted to weld it instead the design would also work for you.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#12

Post by dejv »

This brings back memories. I grew up around smallholding farming during comunist regime when time was plentyful, but it was near to impossible to buy tractor for personal use. Almost every familly owned DIY home-grown tractor built from some old diesel motor donated from who knows where and scrap metal.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#13

Post by [deleted] »

nimbius wrote: post #7

i work on heavy equipment such as tractors, diesel trucks and excavators in the USA. this is an excellent start, but its a long way from a tractor. some of the pitfalls that need to be addressed: "Modular Power Unit" is undefined. can i run it on white gas? diesel? kerosene? what is the engine displacement? air cooled or liquid? If we mean to say this tractor is all-electric, keep in mind most small farms arent equip…

[deleted]

Re: Open Source Tractor

#14

Post by indrax »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #5

I wonder why the frame is made out of bolted beams with holes in them, are bolts and holed beams easy to find or something? I mean I can imagine that if you have the tools to build those, you'd have a welder as well. Granted, welding might be a bit more challenging than cutting beams and drilling holes.

It's conceptually gridbeam. https://gridbeam.xyz/

General construction kit for real world applications. In theory you could take a machine apart and use the beams for some other machine. A smaller kit could build any of the machine designs as needed.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#15

Post by afranchuk »

intrepidhero wrote: post #9

Is there more information on what the "power cube" is? I poked around the site and couldn't find details.

I'm assuming you found the page on the site but want more detailed prose on it? It's the second linked category on the homepage.

https://opensourceecology.dozuki.com/c/PowerCube

Re: Open Source Tractor

#18

Post by fineIllregister »

nimbius wrote: post #7

i work on heavy equipment such as tractors, diesel trucks and excavators in the USA. this is an excellent start, but its a long way from a tractor. some of the pitfalls that need to be addressed: "Modular Power Unit" is undefined. can i run it on white gas? diesel? kerosene? what is the engine displacement? air cooled or liquid? If we mean to say this tractor is all-electric, keep in mind most small farms arent equip…

It's been a while since I have read up on Open Source Ecology, but my memory is that modular power unit is a stand in for several options. One option is the power cube, which is a gas engine:

https://opensourceecology.dozuki.com/c/PowerCube

I believe that the creator of the project uses these, and has said that there are alternatives in case gas is not available.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#19

Post by sixothree »

nimbius wrote: post #7

i work on heavy equipment such as tractors, diesel trucks and excavators in the USA. this is an excellent start, but its a long way from a tractor. some of the pitfalls that need to be addressed: "Modular Power Unit" is undefined. can i run it on white gas? diesel? kerosene? what is the engine displacement? air cooled or liquid? If we mean to say this tractor is all-electric, keep in mind most small farms arent equip…

Is there an issue tracker for this project? Sounds like it might need one along with your advice.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#20

Post by srmatto »

nimbius wrote: post #7

i work on heavy equipment such as tractors, diesel trucks and excavators in the USA. this is an excellent start, but its a long way from a tractor. some of the pitfalls that need to be addressed: "Modular Power Unit" is undefined. can i run it on white gas? diesel? kerosene? what is the engine displacement? air cooled or liquid? If we mean to say this tractor is all-electric, keep in mind most small farms arent equip…

The modular power unit is able to be swapped in and out of the various projects that require it that this team creates. Beyond that I don't know anything about it. There's also a compressed earth block machine and other things that use it. This team has been working on this since approximately 2011? It was started by a former nuclear engineer named Marcin Jakubowski. They're based out of Missouri and they dog-food their tools to build and maintain a small "village" there.

He had a ted talk sometime ago as well: https://www.ted.com/talks/marcin_jakubowski_open_sourced_blu...

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