AssetTrader Buying Guide to Tractors

Features and Options

If you have decided that a tractor is the most suitable equipment for your tasks, then there a number of features to be taken into account before you find your perfect tractor model. There is a high popularity of four wheel drive as a feature in tractors, and this may be due to the fact that it is a crucial element when using a loader on the front of the tractor. In addition, tractors with four wheel drive generally are able to sell at a higher rate, and because of the agricultural and construction settings in which tractors are often used, there are often issues with traction where four wheel drive is a huge benefit.

The implementation of enclosed cabs has been met with a welcome reception, in part because these can greatly improve the ergonomics of the cab, especially in very hot, or in very cold conditions. These enclosed cabs can feature basic amenities such as a heater, but can also see greater facilities such as air conditioning and a stereo unit, to name but a few.

With regards to transmission types, manual transmissions used to be predominant in the tractor industry. However, in more recent years, hydrostatic transmissions have grown in popularity.

There are a number of attachments available to purchase for use with your tractor. To move materials around, for example, a front-end loader is potentially the most appropriate. Other common attachments include box blades, which are used to push earth, a task which is often associated with bulldozers.

Other tractor attachments include mowers, which are available in many types, and in particular reference to the employment of tractors in agricultural use, tillers, plows and disk-harrows are often implemented by farmers in preparing fields.

For those in adverse weather conditions, front-end plows, as well as blowers will turn a tractor in to an ice or snow removing machine.

Attachments are joined to the tractor via a power take off unit, otherwise known as a PTO, and you should ensure, when using an attachment joined to the PTO of a tractor, that the horsepower rating of the PTO provides a high enough level of horsepower to fuel the attachments.

Depending on the task in hand, you should be vigilant as to which type of tyres the tractor dealer attempts to sell you. Agricultural tyres are suited to working in loose dirt, whereas industrial tyres are most closely aligned to heavier mowing.