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Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

thedrive.com

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Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#11

Post by zaroth »

Once John Deere starting DRM’ing their tractors it just screams entrenched monopoly.

But where’s the barrier to entry? AI is going to dramatically alter this competitive landscape and John Deere’s DRM is not going to to stop it.

Honestly, I love watching these companies drive nails into their own coffins.

I was on the Google homepage today on my iPhone and was getting popups advertising Chrome (on the homepage!) and then again in the search results advertising the Google app. I changed my default to DDG right then and there.

Seriously, it’s like 4 taps. Settings > Safari > Search Engine > DDG.

Don’t support these shitty companies and just watch them burn themselves to the ground. It might take 10 years but consumers ultimately will be the arbiter.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#12

Post by kemiller »

sandworm101 wrote: post #2

Progress yes, but at a peak of 70hp it won't be plowing much more than a hobby garden. Autonomous operation is all well and good but expect resistance. Look at how many farmers are injured by tractor equipment. They will rightly fear driverless tractors.

Plenty of tractors in this power class, and electric torque means it will punch above its weight:

https://www.kubotausa.com/products/tractors/utility

Autonomy is a proof-is-in-the-pudding thing. If it works as advertised, people will adopt it eventually.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#13

Post by GlenTheMachine »

sandworm101 wrote: post #2

Progress yes, but at a peak of 70hp it won't be plowing much more than a hobby garden. Autonomous operation is all well and good but expect resistance. Look at how many farmers are injured by tractor equipment. They will rightly fear driverless tractors.

This thing isn't meant to pull your 8-bottom plow attachment. It isn't the tractor a large-scale wheat or corn farmer is going to use to work the fields. Those tractors generate hundreds of horsepower and cost $250k.

But there is plenty of market for a small utility tractor, and the people using those aren't all hobby farmers. You don't use your massive 500 hp John Deere 9630 to stack hay bales or cultivate your row crops or power your auger or post driver.

Even if you have a 500 hp monster you'll still want a utility tractor. Right tool for the right job.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#14

Post by sandworm101 »

chickenpotpie wrote: post #9
WesleyLivesay wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those were my thoughts as well. Around the size of a hobby tractor and it will be interesting to see if they can scale it up without losing endurance. I also feel that 10 hours of battery time isn't sufficient outside of the hobby space. Especially when considering that it probably isn't road legal in autonomous mode.

10 hours of autonomous is pretty great. Someone can’t safely operate a tractor for 10 hours straight anyways

Which is why people work in shifts. Tractors/combines regularly work 24/7 during harvest.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#15

Post by pjc50 »

sandworm101 wrote: post #2

Progress yes, but at a peak of 70hp it won't be plowing much more than a hobby garden. Autonomous operation is all well and good but expect resistance. Look at how many farmers are injured by tractor equipment. They will rightly fear driverless tractors.

Surprisingly large number of tractor injuries are overturning when operating on steep slopes, a category easily avoided by not having a driver.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#16

Post by [deleted] »

pjc50 wrote: post #15
sandworm101 wrote: post #2

Progress yes, but at a peak of 70hp it won't be plowing much more than a hobby garden. Autonomous operation is all well and good but expect resistance. Look at how many farmers are injured by tractor equipment. They will rightly fear driverless tractors.

Surprisingly large number of tractor injuries are overturning when operating on steep slopes, a category easily avoided by not having a driver.

[deleted]

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#17

Post by whizzkid »

+ Really good idea to make use of the electricity in other ways than just driving. (generators, lamps, etc.)

+ 10 hours covers up a good day in field.

- a lot of farms are away from electricity sources to charge and sometimes internet connection is non-existent. It is risky to leave a 50k machine on its own to do its job. And what to do if battery runs out on the field?

- how long does it take to recharge? A lot of farmers will not have fast charges on their farm.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#18

Post by xoa »

gambiting wrote: post #3
sandworm101 wrote: post #2

Progress yes, but at a peak of 70hp it won't be plowing much more than a hobby garden. Autonomous operation is all well and good but expect resistance. Look at how many farmers are injured by tractor equipment. They will rightly fear driverless tractors.

Uhm.....I'm pretty sure my family has been plowing fields(and I do mean fields, not hobby gardens) with our trusty old Ursus C330[0], making a whole 30 horse power. Not sure why 70hp would be a problem. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_C-330

Yes. I've got a 28HP Kubota L-series, and have been contemplating upgrading to an M-series, but even 46 would probably set us for a good while and lots of farmers around here still find use for tractors 50+ years old that are smaller than that. Yes there are huge JDs beyond that, and the M-series tops out at 168 HP, but 70 HP still seems way beyond "hobby" level and I'm honestly and genuinely surprised to see it called that way. I mean sure I understand that in the midwest there are ginormous scale farms which are very important and a backbone of certain parts of our agriculture, but there are still plenty of farms in New England and other areas which are doing a few hundred acres or less, and experimenting with different kinds of farming (like paddy farms for rice) and intensity which alter the need for sheer power.

I don't have the slightest disdain for the megafarms, but it seems a bit blinders to consider them to be the only thing in existence too. Not that there couldn't be other issues with this, but 70 HP would be plenty useful at the right price and running cost. Calling it "hobby level" seems dismissive. Something kind of roughly equivalent like the M4-071 is at least $50k, I'm not sure how many hobbyists are dropping that kind of capital on a whim in the country. At $50-100k most families are going to be thinking about commercial ROI aren't they?

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#19

Post by asutekku »

whizzkid wrote: post #17

+ Really good idea to make use of the electricity in other ways than just driving. (generators, lamps, etc.) + 10 hours covers up a good day in field. - a lot of farms are away from electricity sources to charge and sometimes internet connection is non-existent. It is risky to leave a 50k machine on its own to do its job. And what to do if battery runs out on the field? - how long does it take to recharge? A lot of f…

Charging overnight + installing solar panels near the fields will solve problem. Of course it’s easier said than done, but changing processes will lead to the solution.

Re: Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

#20

Post by tomcam »

sandworm101 wrote: post #10
kemiller wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention that fields are still plowed by actual horses.

FYI a modern horse can generate many horsepower, between 10 and 15hp per horse.

For speed purposes I always hook my horses up in series, not parallel. With 10 horses I can usually pull a carriage at like 160mph on level ground ;)
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