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Alberta startup sells no-tech tractors for half price

wheelfront.com

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

#271

Post by kube-system »

QuantumFunnel wrote: post #255
kube-system wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a double edged sword. Investors demand a return regardless of what IP law is. They'll invest in the companies that find some way to protect their investment -- NDAs, stronger technical protections, services-models, etc.

Maybe it's time the economy shifts from having to prioritize the investors for everything

You don't have to prioritize them. You can choose to encourage the rich to hoard their money elsewhere. But there are consequences to every policy decision.

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

#272

Post by yoyohello13 »

aardvarkr wrote: post #246
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.

Sounds like you just want a car from the year 2000.

I drive a Honda from 2002 and love it. It’s starting to show its age but I don’t want to get a new car until this one dies for good.

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

#273

Post by dylan604 »

lelanthran wrote: post #189
malfist wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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"

Maybe it is fancy to you now, but with a few primitive hand tools and no docs at all, a HS graduate can take it apart and figure out how it works. Try doing the same on the ECU in your car. I'll wait.

> HS graduate can take it apart and figure out how it works.

Sure you wouldn't like a qualifier on that? I've definitely met some HS graduates that would not be able to do this.

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

#274

Post by therealdrag0 »

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.

FWIW: Hyundai EVs have physical buttons for everything important. It has a screen for CarPlay but it’s small compared to competitors. (I got the Kona for these reasons)

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

#276

Post by beloch »

Hasz wrote: post #20

I think this is a reaction to the incredibly locked down ecosystem that most of these mfgs are pushing. However, the tech exists for a reason and is not inherently bad, the issue is the lock-in, the lack of choice and interoperability. IMO, there is plenty of space for an OEM who can play nice with others, offer an open (and vibrant ecosystem), and keep users coming back by choice, not by lock-in.

"Downtime — the thing that actually costs a farmer money during planting or harvest — shrinks dramatically when you don’t need a factory technician with a laptop to diagnose a fuel delivery problem."

---------------

Tractors aren't cars. It isn't merely inconvenient if they are unavailable at crucial times, so ease of repair is critical. Farmers have always done as much of their own maintenance as possible. John Deere has spent a lot of time taking away the reliability and ease of repair that farmers need in order to give them "advanced" features they don't need.

Farmers who want advanced capabilities might now look to build them on top of no-tech tractors with open-source solutions rather than trusting John Deere again. That way, if the "would be nice" tech has problems they can rip it off and get the harvest in without it.

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

#277

Post by quickthrowman »

childintime wrote: post #203

Wait? No electric tractors yet? Swappable batteries would be perfect.

A tractor does actual work like pulling an implement like a plow or spinning the PTO to power a machine like a wood splitter or well drill.

Airplane engines are rebuilt every 5,000ish miles because they’re constantly running at like 50% load, it’s much harder on the engine than moving a car, a tractor is very similar.

Car engines do very little work once you’re up to speed, it only takes a fraction of the max power available to keep the car moving. This is why EVs are possible.

Running a tractor engine under load requires a lot of energy, battery density isn’t quite there yet, diesel has around 50x more energy by weight than a battery.

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

#278

Post by chung8123 »

I bought a chinese mini excavator. It is super simple and I am sure things will break on it (I already had a qc issue with the fuel gauge) but I don't fear things breaking. With the competitors the dealer had to service everything. With the chinese one I text someone on whatsapp, diagnose remotely, and they send me a part. Honestly I like this model more. If you have a lot of money the dealer is great.

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

#279

Post by npongratz »

adamcharnock wrote: post #233
beAbU wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learnt to drive on one of those. I'm a city kid but my grandfather was a wool farmer. Every school holiday we'd visit and I's spend my days literally puttering around the farm, which was pretty huge (~2000ha). When I started out, 13ish or so, I had to stand on the clutch to get it down. If you gave it enough beans and dropped the clutch it'll pop a wheelie! (Don't tell my grandpa)

Honestly, I still had to practically stand on the clutch with mine! I'd teach someone to drive it and say, "now push down on the clutch". They they would heave and struggle, then eventually succeed and look victorious. I'd say, "well done, it is now half way down! But that's all you need for now!" EDIT: To fully explain: It has a two-stage clutch. You half-press it and it disconnects the wheels from the engine. If yo…

> The PTO shaft is a spindle on the back of the tractor which drives things like your flail mower, wood chipper, etc.

... and kills/maims anyone with lose clothing trying to step over it!

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

#280

Post by throwaway173738 »

kube-system wrote: post #215
dylan604 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but that has nothing to do with a vendor making a dumb tractor. Why do we need to dismissively move the conversation from TFA. The data driven approach is made up of several parts, and we're looking at a specific part

Making a dumb tractor for the use-case of dumb tractor is obviously a winning idea. I just don't think you're going to effectively compete with big agtech by putting a bunch of parts in a box, shaking it, and hoping you end up with a beautifully integrated solution. Integration hell is the reason big commercial firms dominate when it comes to large integrated systems.

Why not? They sell telematics systems separately from cars. It’s possible to do this and it might not be too difficult depending on how the system is composed.
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