Three characteristics of orchard tractors

Aug. 12, 2024

Narrow wheelbase, low body, low center of gravity

Tractors used in orchards can be called orchard tractors, which shows that the positioning of orchard tractors is extremely clear. European and American countries began to develop orchard tractors in the 1940s-1980s. There is no doubt that orchard tractors are a deformation of common tractors for cultivated land.

Different from tall and mighty agricultural tractors, orchard tractors are small, compact and capable, and can move freely in undulating hilly areas and inclined narrow orchards. As it significantly improves the work efficiency of the fruit industry, it has been welcomed by the majority of fruit farmers as soon as it came out.

In order to adapt to the narrow row spacing in the orchard, the orchard tractor has the following characteristics: narrow wheelbase, small turning radius, low body, and low center of gravity.

Intuitively, the orchard tractor is a "little monster" that has been flattened, squeezed, narrowed and shortened. It looks cute like a big toy and is very popular with children who visit the orchard. After the visit, they clamor for their parents to buy one to play with. But orchard tractors are actually real agricultural machinery with high technical content. They require special driving qualifications. They are not big toys that anyone can drive.

Although they look similar in appearance, orchard tractors are actually divided into many types. In mature agricultural countries in Europe and the United States, orchard tractors can be divided into orchard type, vineyard type, low type, link type, front and rear wheel equidistant type, gardening type, etc.

50HP hilly mountain palm garden wheeled tractor.webp

In China, there are more variants of orchard tractors, and the situation is extremely complicated. Roughly divided into wheeled, crawler, bent waist steering type, remote control type, unmanned type, etc., there are also electric orchard tractors, fuel orchard tractors, etc.

Affected by comprehensive factors such as large-scale operation, standardized orchard construction, agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, and aging labor force, domestic orchard tractors have shown some new demand characteristics in recent years:

First, the horsepower is getting bigger and bigger. At present, there are orchard tractors with 120 horsepower, but in fact, 50~70 horsepower of orchard tractors is enough, so there is also the phenomenon of "big horse pulling small cart" in orchard tractors. The root cause is to enjoy policy subsidies, thereby increasing the selling point of orchard tractors.

Second, the degree of intelligence is getting higher and higher. Limited by the use environment, orchard tractors are the best carriers of remote control technology and unmanned driving technology. Because the orchard environment is special, branches often scratch the eyes, head and face during manual operations; in addition, in relatively closed orchards, the phenomenon of personnel poisoning caused by the spraying of various pesticides makes the orchard plant protection operation very dangerous, so the separation of people and vehicles is a clear direction for the development of domestic orchard tractors.

Third, the configuration is improved and the reliability is enhanced. At present, there are orchard tractors with synchronizers and power shift in China. The cab has air conditioning and air filtration system, elastic support, streamlined hood, and beautiful appearance; the rigid simply supported front axle is changed to a suspended axle to increase comfort and improve anti-rollover performance through software control; at the same time, the participation of major manufacturers such as Huili Machinery has brought the technical content, performance function, quality and service of domestic orchard tractor products to a higher level.

Overall, in recent years, domestic orchard tractors have not grown taller, but their functions have become more and more powerful, and they have even surpassed field tractors in terms of technical level and function combination, which is worthy of attention.

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