Tractors are among the most essential and versatile pieces of farm equipment. They are used for pulling machinery involved in planting, spraying, fertilizing and harvesting crops, and also act as heavy-duty haulers to move materials on the farm. Whether it’s moving bales of hay, transporting harvested produce, distributing feed to animals or shifting machinery, tractors serve as the farm’s workhorse, making routine tasks easier and saving time.
Before about 1920, farmers worked fields using oxen or horses attached to a plow. This involved tremendous physical labour and a great deal of time to cover even a small amount of land. With the invention of the gas-powered tractor, this gradually changed so that by the 1930s tractors could be found on many farms in Canada.
Different tractors, different purposes
Tractors vary in size, design and engine capacity, depending on their use. In Canada, the common types of tractors used to grow food include:
- Heavy duty four-wheel drive (4WD) tractors are the biggest of the big. They have massive engines (as big as 800 horsepower or more!) for plowing and tilling, as well as pulling machinery and transporting heavy loads. You will commonly see them on farms where they grow field crops like canola, barley, oats, mustard and lentils.
- Row crop tractors are used for crops that are planted in rows like corn, soybeans, wheat, beans or potatoes.
- Compact and utility tractors are designed as an all year round tractor performing duties such as yard maintenance, feeding livestock, cleaning pens, tillage, cutting and baling hay. The can be used in small spaces like in orchards and barns to be able to move between rows, under branches or down alleys.
Don’t let the slow-moving fool you
Tractors are built for power, not speed. Their slow pace ensures safe handling of heavy loads.
A tractor’s gearbox converts the high-speed revolutions of the engine into slower wheel revolutions, allowing it to pull with great force. While an engine’s overall power is measure in horsepower (hp), factors like braking systems and gearbox design contribute to controlling speed.
The story of engines and horses
The term horsepower originated in the 1780s when Scottish engineer James Watt compared the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses. Legend has it that Watt was challenged by a brewer to build an engine capable of pumping at least as much water into the brewery as a horse. He was successful in his quest and from that point forward, the unit for measuring the power of an engine was referred to as horsepower.
The Power Take-Off or PTO is the mechanism that transfers power from the tractor’s motor to farm implements pulled by the tractor that do not have their own engines, like seeders, hay balers, spraying equipment—and more.
Photo Credit: Versatile
Tractors that drive themselves
On today’s grain farms, sophisticated technologies make farming more efficient and profitable, as well as safer and more sustainable. Farmers have touchscreens, sensors and monitors inside their tractor cab that help them operate and monitor the work of the equipment it is pulling.
Many newer tractors are equipped with some form of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). GPS in tractors provides guidance on driving efficiently throughout a field, showing farmers exactly where they should go and storing that information for future passes through the field. This type of GPS system requires a person remain in the driver’s seat while the tractor automatically manages a part of the operation, such as keeping itself centered in a row.
The autonomous or self-driving tractor has GPS navigation and area mapping that allow the tractors to accurately move along programmed routes without being steered by a human. Obstacle detection sensors prevent collisions when people, animals or objects enter their path. Remote monitoring enables control and adjustment from smartphones or computers.
A self-driving tractor combines artificial intelligence, robotics, 360-degree vision cameras and GPS guidance.
Making farming more efficient
With GPS technology, there is no overlap of seed so less seed is used, and fertilizer or pesticides are only applied where needed. More powerful tractors also mean farmers can pull multiple types of equipment so they need to travel over fields fewer times, requiring less fuel. This all contributes to why Canadian farmers are some of the most efficient in the world.
All heavy-duty vehicles sold in Canada, including tractors, must meet strict greenhouse gas emission standards set by the Government of Canada. Even though tractors are bigger and more powerful than they’ve ever been, they’re also generating fewer emissions.
More information on this topic:
- Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre: Agriculture Resource Bank
- Statistics Canada: A-tread by a century: 100 years of tractor data
- Versatile – Agricultural Products (provided photos/videos)
