Development of an electric hand tractor (e-Tractor) for agricultural operations

Abstract

The development of an e-Tractor for agricultural operations was conducted in response to innovative and environment-friendly technologies utilizing non-fossil fuel as a source of energy. Design considerations were taken from the Needs and Design Assessment (NADA) of the intended beneficiaries such as transport of agricultural product and/or for human mobility requirement and for plowing operations. The e-Tractor was designed with a 3-kW direct current electric motor as prime mover and 5.76 kWh battery system as the power source. The machine was tested for transport with trailer attachment using three speed settings (low-2 kph, medium-5 kph, high-7 kph) and three load settings (0 kg, 200 kg, and 400 kg). Test results showed that the e-Tractor can operate at an optimum setting of 7 kph with 287.8 kg load resulting in an operational time of 127.5 minutes and a travel distance of 14.33 km. The obtained field efficiency for the plowing operation using three trials was about 92.29% with a theoretical field capacity of 0.11 ha/h. The development of an operational electric hand tractor facilitates agricultural product mobility as an alternative RE Technology for plowing operation with minimal negative environmental impact.