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This is much more efficient than a diesel tractor that struggles to pull itself.

dghlsakjg 2y ago
Tractors famously (its in the name) can pull many times their own weight using a fuel that is cheap and energy dense compared to drone batteries... Farmers don't have enough margin for their most expensive capital outlay to not be extremely good at what they need it for. Tractors can carry many tons of liquid that needs to be sprayed on crops, as well as an implement that can spray a many yards wide swath of crops. A tractor is also something that is needed for the rest of the farming and harvesting operation.
- rrr_oh_man 2y ago
  They’re pretty durable, too. My grandfather's tractor has been running on machine oil, curses, and cheap diesel for 40+ years before he sold it off due to age.
- ClumsyPilot 2y ago
  > Tractors can carry many tons of liquid that needs to be sprayed on crops, You are not trying to flood the field with pesticides And weigh lt us a huge problem, when it’s wet you not allowed to drive in the fields because you will compact the soil, ruining it
- betimsl 2y ago
  Of course they are powerful and can pull a lot of weight but it struggles doing that. You can hear it in the sound when you let go of the clutch, the stress of the chassis and all that it brings with it. At the end of a day it sprays much more than it is needed, so lose-lose situation. Now if you combine this drone with a targeted spray depositing, you see where I'm getting? P.S. I don't know why my comment was down voted, but ignorance knows no boundaries.
  - dghlsakjg 2y ago
    > Of course they are powerful and can pull a lot of weight but it struggles doing that. I don't know what that sentence means. Tractors, by definition, don't struggle to pull. Quite notoriously, they can pull hard enough to flip themselves over. Now combine the tractor with targeted spray depositing. Any technology that can be strapped to a drone, can be made cheaper by removing the expensive, fragile drone bits, and then strapped to a tractor. Farmers aren't in the business of spraying expensive chemicals onto crops that don't need them. They are VERY conscious of the costs, and are always looking for a way to lower them. The point is that a tractor is necessary equipment that farmer already owns, and can take a combination of implements that are tried and tested, and capable of being incrementally improved on. The only thing that a drone can do that a tractor can't is move quickly.
    - betimsl 2y ago
      I agree with you that a farm needs at least one tractor. But this drone is much better because it burns less fuel, can fly autonomously, and it's much cheaper to run; no tractor can beat that.
jakewins 2y ago
That doesn’t seem at all obvious - this thing has to spend a ton of energy on keeping the payload away from gravity that a tractor does not. It also has a pretty high capex bar to clear - it can’t replace a tractor, the farmer needs that still for implements, so it is purely additive in the capex area :/ Still, looks super duper cool and presumably has some tricks it can do a tractor can’t!

Tractors famously (its in the name) can pull many times their own weight using a fuel that is cheap and energy dense compared to drone batteries... Farmers don't have enough margin for their most expensive capital outlay to not be extremely good at what they need it for. Tractors can carry many tons of liquid that needs to be sprayed on crops, as well as an implement that can spray a many yards wide swath of crops. A tractor is also something that is needed for the rest of the farming and harvesting operation.

rrr_oh_man 2y ago
They’re pretty durable, too. My grandfather's tractor has been running on machine oil, curses, and cheap diesel for 40+ years before he sold it off due to age.
ClumsyPilot 2y ago
> Tractors can carry many tons of liquid that needs to be sprayed on crops, You are not trying to flood the field with pesticides And weigh lt us a huge problem, when it’s wet you not allowed to drive in the fields because you will compact the soil, ruining it
betimsl 2y ago
Of course they are powerful and can pull a lot of weight but it struggles doing that. You can hear it in the sound when you let go of the clutch, the stress of the chassis and all that it brings with it. At the end of a day it sprays much more than it is needed, so lose-lose situation. Now if you combine this drone with a targeted spray depositing, you see where I'm getting? P.S. I don't know why my comment was down voted, but ignorance knows no boundaries.
- dghlsakjg 2y ago
  > Of course they are powerful and can pull a lot of weight but it struggles doing that. I don't know what that sentence means. Tractors, by definition, don't struggle to pull. Quite notoriously, they can pull hard enough to flip themselves over. Now combine the tractor with targeted spray depositing. Any technology that can be strapped to a drone, can be made cheaper by removing the expensive, fragile drone bits, and then strapped to a tractor. Farmers aren't in the business of spraying expensive chemicals onto crops that don't need them. They are VERY conscious of the costs, and are always looking for a way to lower them. The point is that a tractor is necessary equipment that farmer already owns, and can take a combination of implements that are tried and tested, and capable of being incrementally improved on. The only thing that a drone can do that a tractor can't is move quickly.
  - betimsl 2y ago
    I agree with you that a farm needs at least one tractor. But this drone is much better because it burns less fuel, can fly autonomously, and it's much cheaper to run; no tractor can beat that.

jakewins 2y ago

That doesn’t seem at all obvious - this thing has to spend a ton of energy on keeping the payload away from gravity that a tractor does not. It also has a pretty high capex bar to clear - it can’t replace a tractor, the farmer needs that still for implements, so it is purely additive in the capex area :/ Still, looks super duper cool and presumably has some tricks it can do a tractor can’t!