Compact tractors are mostly used by fruit growers and horticulturists. This Fendt Farmer 270 V drives a pump, creating a temporary waterfall. The combination drains water from the orchard in the background and dumps it into a wider ditch alongside the road.
The Fendt Farmer 270 V and the AWD 270 VA were offered from 1988 to 2002. This compact tractor model was powered by an air cooled 3.8 liter 4-cylinder KHD (Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz) diesel engine, good for 70 DIN-hp.
The fruit trees are protected by anti hail nets. Rolled up now, obviously.
Further down the road I caught another fieldside classic, and it’s for sale. An old Nooteboom low bed semi-trailer chassis.
Almost at the end of my walk, this former farmhouse is getting a new thatched roof. Once the restoration is completed, this ol’ house will be ready for many years to come. Way, way beyond 2018…
Is hail a frequent occurrence where you live? We get hail in the American Midwest, but it tends to be an all-or-nothing thing: either flattens your crop, or not.
Running a water pump demonstrates what tractor engines are really designed for: a constant source of economical and reliable power provided at a constant speed.
Funny…I was posting a similar hail comment to yours at exactly the same time! (see below)
No doubt that the tractor’s ability to perform as a stationary power source made them more attractive to farmers in the early days; the same could be said for the Model T. I’m amazed at the ingenuity of farmers and ranchers, even today.
The tractor + pump have been running there for many days in a row, I took the pictures yesterday.
Just feed the tractor with diesel fuel and it will pump till eternity (well, sort of).
John Froelich’s tractor, generally acknowledged to be the first practical traction engine (tractor) in this country, as it had a reverse gear, was basically a stationary engine of his own design that he and his blacksmith mounted on a steam engine running gear. He successfully demonstrated it by pulling a J. I. Case thresher to harvest the wheat crop in South Dakota in 1892. It was much more economical and maneuverable than the giant steam engines that were typical for the time, and had the advantage of being less likely to set the wheat fields on fire. (This was a good thing, as those of you who have been to South Dakota know that the wind never stops blowing there.) He sold the idea to a group of Waterloo, Iowa businessmen, and together they started the company that specialized in building stationary engines before eventually building the Waterloo Boy tractor, later sold to John Deere to become the legendary two cylinder models D, A, B and G. So, it all started with a stationary engine, doing jobs just like this.
Especially for fruit growers hail is the worst nightmare. Just a few minutes of hail can destroy your yearly fruitage.
An insurance is possible, but that’s (extremely) expensive.
Often it’s also a local phenomenon. Severe hail in one spot, while folks just a few miles further away ask “hail? what hail?”
Happens here in Austria regularly. On the plus side, if you don’t mind the dings, hail-damaged cars are cheap to buy:)
With the exception of the last one, these photos almost look as though they could’ve been taken at an apple and peach orchard near me, in Northwest Arkansas. This was once a major apple-producing region, sitting on the borders of the Southern and Midwest United States.
Funny how until I saw the third and fourth photos, I was somehow under the mistaken notion that hail was like tornadoes – not unheard of elsewhere, but you seem to hear about it occurring primarily in the heartland of the United States.
The region where I live has been a major apple- and pear-producer for many decades. That’s the fertile land along our main rivers, the whole infrastructure included.
For those who have never experienced a severe hail storm, it’s hard to imagine how extremely devastating they can be. Just imagine golf balls raining down from above, destroying everything they hit. My son’s neighborhood was hit a few years ago. Every car not garaged had its windshield, backlite and sunroof shattered. Every house (about 60) needed a new roof, with many needing new siding, doors and windows. And this is in an area on the east coast not really prone to severe storms. I live about 10 miles away and experienced nothing.
Well said. Just an example below, greenhouses in the south of the Netherlands after a hail storm.
Not too long after we were married (this would have been in the spring of 1986) my wife and I were shopping for a new car. In this part of the U.S. nearly all car dealers are closed on Sunday so, especially in the pre-internet age, that was a good time to cruise around and check dealer inventory. One spring Sunday we found a Mercury Cougar XR7 equipped with what we wanted and in the precise color management insisted upon. I had to work late that Monday so it was Tuesday before we could revisit the dealer. Between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening the dealership had been struck by a severe hailstorm and all of the cars on the lot had suffered damage. The poor Cougar looked like someone had danced on it while wearing golf spikes. The dealer offered to knock a few hundred dollars off the price due to the hail damage. We politely declined and continued our search; we ended up buying a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (a much better looking car in my eyes) a few weeks later.
We have a white Taurus in my company fleet – one of many – that we have dubbed “Dimples.” Its exterior surface resembles a golf ball.
These machines are essentially, a stationary engine that you can drive to where you need it.
Quite a common tractor on orchards where I live, also a major fruit growing area but mostly large hail free, small type hail damage will grow out the big stuff like seen in Aussie tennis ball size takes the trees out too hail netting is horrendously expensive insurance not far behind so only really hail prone areas use it most growers just seem to chance it and supply the juice industry if they do get hit.