Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer, workshop
- Energy: alternative energy (battery powered tractor)
- Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures
Proposal summary:
There are two problems that this project would address. The first
problem is currently there are no easy to understand guides on
how to convert this type of weeding tractor from gas power to
electric power. This may seem like a very specific problem but it
becomes more important once you understand how common of a
tractor this is on diversified vegetable farms. For example, in a
100 mile radius from my farm I currently know of 5 other
established vegetables farms that use this same exact tractor to
do the majority of weeding on their farm. Along these same lines
if you look at the current Youtube videos (which only show people
using these electric tractor and not how they completed the
conversion) they have nearly 22,000 views which tells me that
there is interest in an electric version of these tractors. The
second problem this project addresses is that there are no
affordable or electric weeding tractors currently on the market.
The only modern tractor currently available costs over $33,000
and is diesel powered. For my project a farmer would only need to
spend around $9000 to complete a fossil fuel free weeding
tractor.
Project objectives from proposal:
Solutions-Demonstration and Education project
For this project I will create a video series that shows a "step
by step" process of how to complete this electric conversion.
Within each video I plan to include a supplies list with sourcing
information, a budget of how much everything costs, and a
detailed tools list of what tools you would need to complete the
steps in each video. I will use plain, non technical language in
each video so that no prior mechanical knowledge is needed to
understand each video. The intended audience for these videos is
other small to medium sized vegetable farmers who want to move
away from fossil fuel use on their farm while still having the
efficiencies of tractor cultivation. Ideally, I hope that these
videos will empower other farmers who do not usually attempt a
DIY project due to lack of resource or access to a mentor. The
video series will be posted to Youtube so that it is free and
easily accessible to anyone interested. The video's will also be
shared through our farm instagram and facebook accounts. In
addition to posting the videos I plan to have two in person
opportunities for people to learn about the project. One of these
opportunities will be a field day for other farmers, specifically
those at the incubator farm where we currently rent land (usually
15-20 farm teams each year), to test drive the tractor and get
some hands on experience with it. The second in person
opportunity would be to do a presentation at the annual
Sustainable Farming Association Conference in February. I believe
this would be an ideal conference to share this project at
because it attracts a good mix of farmers and educators in our
area.
Objectives
1) Successfully demonstrate and record the entire conversion of
an Allis Chalmers Model G tractor from gas to electric
2) Publish a 5 part video series that provides "Step by Step"
guidance, including budgets, supplies lists, and tool lists
3) Host one field day during the season for other farmers to
learn about and test drive the new electric tractor
4) Present the results/final process of the project at the annual
Sustainable Farming Association Conference