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Open Source Tractor

opensourceecology.dozuki.com

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Re: Open Source Tractor

#71

Post by MayeulC »

hinkley wrote: post #46
throwaway894345 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cab frame has no safety glass or panels, so the operator enjoys every rock and every tree branch :(. a shade canopy is a nice add as well. These were luxuries only our nicest tractors had growing up ~20 years ago. I imagine the market for an Open Source Tractor can similarly make do without.

Rocks and branches are a once-in-a-while problem. Dust is an everyday use problem, and in an era where everything is doused in pesticides and herbicides I don't think it's optional.

I don't know; my neighbors are farmers and their tractors don't have cabins. I'm not saying it's healthy, just that different people place different emphasis on different features.

Having occasionally used a (cabin-less) tractor without power steering for years, I'd pick that over a cabin for instance.

Dust and pesticides can be worked around with masks, goggles or scarves when occasionally found around. A straw hat for sunlight. In any case, this is a base building block, people are free to design add-ons for it depending on their needs :)

Re: Open Source Tractor

#72

Post by PBnFlash »

mastax wrote: post #33

Man I remember reading about this in 2011 or so. I'm glad they're still doing well. It's an interesting project at the intersection of philanthropic eco-hippies and mechanical engineers which doesn't seem very common to me. Of course, being older and wiser now I'm less excited about the fantasy of using my brains and grit to rebuild society after the coming apocalypse. And if you are a villager of some description tr…

I was following this project for a few years after 2011 and it seemed to pivot to like a weird homesteading thing. I'm glad it's doing the tractor again.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#73

Post by nannal »

puzzledobserver wrote: post #53
nannal wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are modern blueprints, PDF? Sounds like a fairly simple project.

Maybe CAD models for 3D printers? Something like Thingiverse, at the very least. I'd imagine you also need repositories of processes and assembly instructions.

That seems like the kind of things we ought to know inside and out before starting.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#74

Post by themaninthedark »

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 cab frame it's self has me a little worried as well. It looks like it is all bolted steel tubes and I am not sure how well those would handle a roll over event.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#75

Post by throwaway894345 »

MayeulC wrote: post #71
hinkley wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rocks and branches are a once-in-a-while problem. Dust is an everyday use problem, and in an era where everything is doused in pesticides and herbicides I don't think it's optional.

I don't know; my neighbors are farmers and their tractors don't have cabins. I'm not saying it's healthy, just that different people place different emphasis on different features. Having occasionally used a (cabin-less) tractor without power steering for years, I'd pick that over a cabin for instance. Dust and pesticides can be worked around with masks, goggles or scarves when occasionally found around. A straw hat…

To the extent that these things are unhealthy, it’s probably something that only shows up in aggregate. Individual health issues probably aren’t related back to x-icide exposure. At least I’ve never heard of such a thing and I come from a large farming community.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#77

Post by d00wgnir »

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…

If you're capable of building one of these, I imagine rigging up a windshield and some lighting shouldn't be too hard.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#78

Post by rpmisms »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #28
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…

Lack of 3 point hitch and PTO would rule it out completely for me.

Those are nice-to-haves, but realistically most farming tasks can be performed without them.

Source: ran a 15-acre veggie farm for 2 years with nothing but a BCS walking tractor.

Re: Open Source Tractor

#79

Post by namdnay »

rmason wrote: post #51

This project is terrific. People are critical of what it doesn't do, I'm in awe of what it does do. You're going to have little two man shops in Africa and Asia cranking these out and changing agriculture in their part of the world. This demonstrates the power of open source. These engineers are to be commended.

I doubt that IP of tractor designs is a major factor in third world poverty. I’m sure there are factories in Asia pumping out cheap tractors already

Re: Open Source Tractor

#80

Post by timschmidt »

moron4hire wrote: post #55
indrax wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's surprisingly hard to find information about grid-beam online. I got this book years ago. Never really did anything with it, but it has a lot more examples: https://www.amazon.com/How-Build-Grid-Beam-Constructing/dp/0... The problem with grid-beam is that it really only seems to make sense if you A) have lots of grid-beams in various sizes already, and B) are making, taking apart, and repurposing things frequentl…

Hi hugs!

I've been working to document everything I've done with Gridbeam, and related tech here: https://wiki.replimat.org/wiki/Main_Page

I lived with Phil and RJ Jergenson for a couple years around 2012, tried to learn from their experience and mistakes. They weren't happy with 1ft lengths in every project, even though they were an improvement in reusability over all lengths free-for-all. I've since moved all the replimat designs to use lengths 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 only. Which allows for center pivots and divisible-by-two lengths whereas the Jergensons could only divide by two. We also hit countertop height a little better. Little tweaks.

I try to communicate with everyone listed in the "Friends" section on the right hand side of https://www.replimat.org/ regularly. I'm excited that things seem to be gathering steam for all of us.

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