4 ms·
It'd probably be hard to source parts and equipment - I think farmers are likely to be restricted by emissions regulations/requirements - wouldn't be easy to pu
by scohesc 4y ago
It'd probably be hard to source parts and equipment - I think farmers are likely to be restricted by emissions regulations/requirements - wouldn't be easy to put a school bus engine into a tractor without some serious carbon/emissions capture, etc. (as an example)
I seem to recall (though can't be 100% sure) that farmers are eligible for certain subsidies based on their emissions, etc. - basically shoehorning you into buying these expensive tractors/equipment as they're the only companies that can afford to follow those emissions standards - it sucks for farmers, but I can understand the benefit to the planet.
- mikece 4y agoSchool buses have pretty common diesel engines similar to what are used in farm tractors. For larger tractors I suspect the engines are more similar to those used in 18-wheeler trucks and are merely scaled up versions of the Cummins, Cat, or Detroit diesel engines. Perhaps the right question to ask isn't about the whole tractor being open spec but the engine as that's likely one thing a start-up tractor maker would have someone else build for them rather than doing it themselves.
- boltzmann-brain 4y agoSorry, but: you shouldn't be imagining that stuff. Your competences as a programmer are nowhere near building farm tractors - there's nothing within your experience you can base this on.
- mikece 4y agoThe concept of fungible modules can apply to both tractors and enterprise software. Engines from Cummins, Cat, Detroit, Mercedes, etc; electrical systems from Bosch, Panasonic, Raytheon, or Seimens... just like we can swap email sending engines or cloud hosting providers. It's the details of completing the design and assembly of the tractor where I would go back to a dark cubicle and work on the open source ECM software.