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Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

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Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#161

Post by Mraedis »

uticus wrote: post #156
adamcharnock wrote: post #134

Up until a year ago I was regularly using a Massy Fergusson 135 [0] (Perkins Diesel version), made sometime in the 1970s. It was wonderful! So amazing to drive and use. Clunky and heavy, but you really really felt like you were using a machine. In low gears, if you put you foot down on the accelerator the engine would roar, and your speed would barely change! And there was no fancy technology in it at all. If I was i…

> The air filter was basically a shisha-pipe that bubbled the incoming air through wire wool and engine oil. What is a shisha-pipe?

Also known as hookah or just waterpipe.

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#162

Post by salawat »

stackskipton wrote: post #102
narcraft wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no magic necessary. TFA highlights the exact mechanism by which markets can fill a gap or need via entrepreneurship when incumbents fail to deliver what customers want. It's not guaranteed to happen or work in every case, but there's money to be made by giving people what they actually want.

A lot of electronics is useful, it can reduce fuel use or help with more accurate driving. Farmers are just pissed they lose the ability to repair the vehicle easily or get stuck with monthly subscription because tractor company has changed the terms and you are praying they don't change it further.

It's almost as if freedom only exists for those with the money to hire lawyers to make it happen. Farmers are basically screwed in that their location at the bottom foundation level of society really ties their hands in what they can get away with before things start getting tumultuous. Yet get a few factories under your belt and enshittify, and suddenly it's all "your way or the highway". Odd that.

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#163

Post by bri3d »

whalesalad wrote: post #118
bryanlarsen wrote: post #82

Is part of the appeal due to the fact that being remanufactured engines they don't need modern emissions control, aka Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)? Farmers hate DEF.

Anyone who actually has to use their equipment to get shit done dislikes DPF/regen. It's like Windows Update --- you might be in the middle of a serious task but screech "time for a scheduled update! we dgaf what kind of critical task you were just doing, you want updates!" Modern diesel systems equipped with DPF tech (which consumes DEF, the fluid) require a regen cycle which is kinda like an oven cleaning itself -…

DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) and SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction, which uses DEF, Diesel Exhaust Fluid) are two mostly different systems. DPF traps soot in a filter which then burns the soot off into gas later (regen). SCR reduces NOx using urea.

This is important to know in the context of tractors because in the US, 25-74hp tractors generally need only DPF without SCR (there are basically three bins depending on horsepower level). This makes these midsized tractors a bit of a sweet spot for a lot of tasks; of course, you still have to deal with regen (which is where the DPF gets heated up to convert trapped soot into gas), which is annoying, but you at least don't have to fill up with DEF or risk the DEF injection system failing.

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#164

Post by mrexroad »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #113
jmward01 wrote: post #59

I want this for cars but to keep the modern powertrain. So an EV without the tracking/touch screens, etc etc. Or an internal combustion engine car that is just simple and efficient (and again, no tracking). I'll take the low-tech but nice features like heated seats and power windows still thank you.

I honestly don't care about power windows (or seats), do you really ? I guess one advantage is being able to easily open windows other than your own. Heated seats and stearing wheel, yes please. But yep what I want is a Saab 900 "cockpit" car -- everything can be focused on and manipulated (physically!) without my eyes leaving the road or my hand having to explore too much. But, yeah, electric.

I still often think of my old Saab 900’s Black Panel button—physical dark mode.

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#165

Post by measurablefunc »

> Pre-war EIA forecasts projected U.S. diesel prices would average $3.47/gallon in 2026. As of late March, the national average hit $5.37/gallon, roughly 55% above where it was expected to be.

Diesel prices will continue to rise so it's not clear what these farmers are actually signing up for.

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#167

Post by efskap »

malfist wrote: post #151
adamcharnock wrote: post #134

Up until a year ago I was regularly using a Massy Fergusson 135 [0] (Perkins Diesel version), made sometime in the 1970s. It was wonderful! So amazing to drive and use. Clunky and heavy, but you really really felt like you were using a machine. In low gears, if you put you foot down on the accelerator the engine would roar, and your speed would barely change! And there was no fancy technology in it at all. If I was i…

> no fancy technology in it at all It's amazing we can use huge machinery with internal combustion engines and declare it "no fancy technology"

Any sufficiently mundane technology is indistinguishable from... furniture?

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#168

Post by xethos »

slopinthebag wrote: post #120
red-iron-pine wrote: post #26

Danielle Smith never met a corporate shill she could say no to I predict 6 months before John Deer gets the Alberta UCP on the line and gets a law passed that bans "unsafe tractors" (or the like)

[flagged]

> sexist

No, I thought Kenny was a schmuck too

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#169

Post by speedgoose »

jmward01 wrote: post #59

I want this for cars but to keep the modern powertrain. So an EV without the tracking/touch screens, etc etc. Or an internal combustion engine car that is just simple and efficient (and again, no tracking). I'll take the low-tech but nice features like heated seats and power windows still thank you.

So a Dacia?

Re: Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

#170

Post by Loughla »

adamcharnock wrote: post #134

Up until a year ago I was regularly using a Massy Fergusson 135 [0] (Perkins Diesel version), made sometime in the 1970s. It was wonderful! So amazing to drive and use. Clunky and heavy, but you really really felt like you were using a machine. In low gears, if you put you foot down on the accelerator the engine would roar, and your speed would barely change! And there was no fancy technology in it at all. If I was i…

Did yours have a foot feed for the accelerator? I've never seen one without a hand feed for the rpm's on the steering column.
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