Tractor
n. 1. That which draws, or is used for drawing.
2. (Med.) Two small, pointed rods of metal, formerly used in the
treatment called Perkinism.
3. a motor vehicle with a powerful engine and large wheels, used
to pull farm equipment such as plows, harvesting machinery, etc.,
over farm land. Smaller forms of farm tractor are completely open,
with only a seat for the driver.
4. a motor vehicle with a driver's cab and a powerful engine, fitted
with a coupling at the rear, and designed to pull a large trailer
or semi-trailer on the open highway; - called also truck tractor.
The combination of such a tractor with its trailer is called a tractor-trailer,
and is a common form of truck used for commercial shipping of freight.
5. (Aviation) A propeller screw placed in front of the supporting
planes of an aëroplane instead of behind them, so that it exerts
a pull instead of a push; - called also Tractor screw and Tractor
propeller.
6. (Aviation) An airplane having one or more tractor propellers;
- called also tractor airplane.
Noun 1. tractor - a wheeled vehicle with large wheels; used in farming
and other applications
2. tractor - a truck that has a cab but no body; used for pulling
large trailers or vans
Roger Bartelt
on tractor
The classic farm tractor.A tractor (from Latin trahere) is a device
intended for drawing, towing or pulling something which cannot propel
itself.
Most commonly the word is used to describe a vehicle intended for
such a task on some other vehicle or object.
Farm tractor
A modern John
Deere 8110 Farm Tractor.The most common use of the term tractor
is for the vehicles used on farms. The classic farm tractor is a
simple open vehicle with two very large driving wheels on an axle
below and slightly behind a single seat (this and hence the steering
wheel are not on the left or right but in the center) and the engine
in front of the driver with two steerable wheels below the engine
compartment.
There are usually
three pedals on the floor of a tractor, right below the steering
wheel. The pedal on the left is the clutch, the operator presses
on this pedal to disengage the transmission for either shifting
gears or stopping the tractor. The two pedals on the left are the
brakes. The left brake pedal stops the left front and rear tires,
and the right break pedal does the same with the tires on the right
side. This provides another method of steering the tractor, this
is usually done in situations where a tractor needs to make a tight
turn. The operator would press both pedals at the same time to stop
the tractor.
A small red
tractor towing a cargo cartThe throttle, unlike those in automobiles
is generally controlled from a hand operated lever. This helps provide
a constant speed in field work. It also helps provide continuous
power for stationary tractors that are operating an implement. Some
modern tractors have an additional pedal on the floor that serves
as an additional throttle control, giving the operator more control
over the speed of the tractor.
Most farm tractors use a manual transmission. They have several
gears which generally provide a range of speeds from less than a
mile per hour up to about 25 miles per hour. Compared to other vehicles,
the tractor is quite slow. Slower speeds are necessary for most
operations that are performed with a tractor. These slower speeds
help give the farmer a larger degree of control in certain situations
- such as field work. Older tractors generally require that the
operator press in the clutch to shift the gears, but some modern
tractors can shift between gears without the need to depress the
clutch.
The farm tractor
is used for pulling agricultural machinery or trailers, ploughing,
harrowing and similar tasks. Modern farm tractors can be quite large
with eight driven wheels, four on the front axle and four on the
back axle, and articulated steering. Variations of the classic style
are used for smaller farm tasks, mowing grass, and landscaping.
The size - especially
with modern tractors - and the slower speeds are one of the reasons
the government urges motorists to use caution when encountering
a tractor on the roads.
A PTO shaft
plugged into a tractor.Modern tractors have roll over protection
systems (ROPS) to prevent an operator from being crushed in the
event of a rollover. This is especially important in open air tractors.
In open air tractors the ROPS is a steel beam that extends above
the operator's seat. For tractors with operator cabs, the ROPS is
part of the frame of the cab. Before ROPS were required, many farmers
were crushed to death when their tractors rolled over on top of
them.
Most tractors have a means to transfer the engine's power to another
machine such as a baler or reaper. Early tractors used belts wrapped
around pulleys to power stationary equipment. Modern tractors use
a power take-off (PTO) to provide rotary power to machinary that
may be stationary or pulled. Almost all modern tractors can also
provide hydraulic and electrical power.
Most equipment
attached to the rear of the tractor use the three-point hitch (invented
by Harry Ferguson) which has been a standard since the 1960s.
Engineering tractors The durability and engine power of tractors
made them very suitable for engineering tasks. Tractors can be attached
with different engineering tools such as dozer blade, bucket, hoe,
ripper etc. The most common attachments for the front of a tractor
are dozer blade or a bucket. When attached with engineering tools
the tractor is called engineering vehicle.
A bulldozer
is a tracked-type tractor attached with blade in the front. Bulldozers
are very powerful tractors and have excellent ground-hold, as their
main tasks are to push or drag things.
Bulldozers have
been further modified over time to evolve into new machines which
are capable of working in ways that the original bulldozer can not.
One example is that loader tractors were created by removing the
blade and substituting a large volume bucket and hydraulic arms
which can raise and lower the bucket, thus making it useful for
scooping up earth and loading it into trucks.
A front-loader
or loader is a tractor with an engineering tool which consists of
two hydraulic powered arms on either side of the front engine compartment
and a tilting implement. This is usually a wide open box called
a bucket but other common attachments are a pallet fork and a bale
grappler.
Other modifications
to the original bulldozer include the reduction in size of the machine
to permit it to operate in small work areas where movement is limited.
There are also tiny wheeled loaders, officially called Skid-steer
loaders but nicknamed "Bobcat" after the original manufacturer,
which are particularly suited for small excavation projects in confined
areas.
Backhoe loader
backhoe-loader
A common backhoe-loader. The backhoe is on the right, the bucket/blade
on the left.
The most common variation of the classic farm tractor is the loader-backhoe,
also called a backhoe-loader. As the name implies, it has a loader
assembly on the front and a backhoe on the back. When both the loader
and the backhoe are permenantly attached it is almost never called
a tractor, not generally used for towing and usually does not have
a PTO. When the backhoe is permenantly attached the machine ussually
has a seat that can swivel to the rear to face the hoe controls.
Removable backhoe attachments almost always have a separate seat
on the attachment itself.
The backhoe-loaders
are very common and can be used for a wide variety of tasks: construction,
small demolitions, light transportation of building materials, powering
building equipment, digging holes, breaking asphalt and paving roads.
Their relative
small frame and percise control of the shovel/bucket and the backhoe
made them very useful and common in urban engineering projects such
as daily repairs and maintenance of the city.
How a backhoe
loader works (HowStuffWorks)
Other types of tractors A less-well-used term is used to describe
road tractors, which are heavy-duty vehicles with large engines
and several axles. These tractors are designed to pull long road
trailers, most often for the transport of freight of some kind over
a significant distance (See Semi-trailer).
Road tractor
pulling a flatbed trailerOther forms of tractor include artillery
tractors, highly-specialised vehicles used to tow guns of varying
weights.
Of non-vehicles,
a tractor is a part of printer that pulls the paper inside and pushes
it outside of the printer.
In aircraft,
a tractor configuration refers to the propellers being in front
of the fuselage or wing. Conversely if to the rear it is a called
a pusher configuration.
See also Engineering vehicles: bulldozer - front loader - backhoe
loader - excavator - tractor - skid loader - crane - grader.
list of farm
implements
Related Words
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