Maria Zepeda shares tractor performance evaluations from the field through the John Deere Operations Center to help farmers understand their tractors’ engine power utilization and why “more horsepower” isn’t always the answer.
Tractor Performance Data Sets? Keys to Achieving Max Power Utilization
Maria Zepeda, Southwest Region Agronomist | RDO Equipment Co.
Remember last summer when solar flares disrupted connected tractors’ ability to send data to their Farm Management System (FMS)? This year, many rural areas increased access to GPS satellites through updated StarFire RTK ™ receivers and the ability to track locations up to centimeter accuracy through more computer processing power. The increase in connectivity means not only more GPS data points but more tractor performance data, farmers, equipment managers and trusted precision ag experts can monitor a tractor’s productivity to reduce risk of downtime while increasing productivity based on the field and tasks.
For many generations, farmers considered horsepower as the tractor’s key productivity metric. While this is still true today, connected machines offer full visibility into a tractor’s utilization and GPS location. More horsepower can seem like the catch-all solution to increasing efficiency, but through annual business reviews with RDO customers, we’ve discovered that more doesn’t always equal the best outcomes for the farm’s overall efficiency.
Define Horsepower and Tractor Performance
Horsepower is a measurement of an engine’s power output, first developed to compare steam engines to draft horses. On tractors, we pay attention to brake horsepower (BHP) and engine horsepower, as both can provide insights. Often, when you walk into your trusted dealer’s office, a new flyer or magazine might catch your eye as you walk past an ad for the latest model with its horsepower displayed in large text. You think to yourself: “Hmm, that’s interesting. What does that level of horsepower do for my operation?”
Enter the ability to connect to a web-based FMS, John Deere Operations Center™, through a JDLink™ Connectivity modem. The true horsepower required from a tractor can vary greatly, depending on the field and type of work. Equipment managers can decide to use a smaller tractor to save on fuel costs during times of high-production hours, like planting or harvesting. Within the Operations Center, the farm’s equipment manager can access each tractor’s Utilization report, which separates the tractor’s production hours into three main types.
- Idle: Time spent with the engine running but not actively working, using the minimum amount of the tractor’s horsepower
- Transport: Time spent moving from one location to another, using the mean amount of the tractor’s horsepower
- Working: Time spent actively performing tasks in the field, using more of the tractor’s total horsepower
Ideally, the tractor’s working hours are high and the idle or transport hours are low, but sometimes, tractors need to travel farther or wait longer depending on their assigned job, like a sprayer waiting for a tender truck. The best person to recognize these specific situations will be the equipment manager. Developing a habit of periodically checking horsepower utilization reports will help create a benchmark for each tractor and each task. And unlike cars, tractors often don’t max out their horsepower. For instance, John Deere tractors include reserve power to ensure the machine stays working even in extreme conditions. A farmer and equipment manager can quickly identify John Deere’s tractor recommended horsepower as it is always printed on the side of the machine. Other tractor models may show the max, not the recommended, which is something a farmer can keep in mind when considering any tractor’s performance.
Some dealers, like RDO’s Connected Support team, have a remote monitoring and support team to help analyze a tractor’s performance. They can help spot potential issues or troubleshoot when farmers ask why a tractor is not performing as expected. Through connected tractors, the Operations Center, and business review meetings, we can gain more insight into our tractors’ performance and their effect on the farm’s overall efficiency.
Review Data Sets with Precision Ag Specialists
To really understand how a tractor performs, look at its usage hours more often. Break it down by each tractor’s different tasks instead of just checking the overall yearly average. Compare the tractor’s utilization to its total engine hours to understand the tractor’s Utilization reports and how these numbers translate into operation costs. Let’s take a look at one farmer’s experience when they reviewed a Utilization report to identify their tractor’s Engine Load Factor.
Engine Load Factor is a measure of how hard a tractor’s engine is working relative to its maximum capacity. Expressed as a percentage, the Operations Center calculates each machine’s Engine Load Factor by comparing actual engine load to the rated engine power over time. Engine Load Factor is influenced by the tractors’ capabilities, field conditions, tasks, and speed. A higher Engine Load Factor indicates more efficient use of the engine, while a lower one may suggest excessive idling, longer transport times, or underutilization.
Before a farmer with a large operation in the Southwest went into his trusted dealer’s office, he identified that one tractor’s Engine Load Factor was about 60%. He then asked his trusted precision ag specialist about this percentage. We helped to distill the data to a 30-day period where the tractor was used mainly for tillage work instead of just looking at the tractor’s annual average. What we found was that during the high production hours periods like tillage, without the influence of idle and transport load, its Engine Load percentage was significantly higher.
So, from this discussion the farmer understood that during other growing phases this tractor may have been transporting or idling more hours than working, decreasing its yearly Engine Load Factor. Although this doesn’t mean that this tractor wasn’t used to its full capacity. These data sets plus the farmer’s experience can identify appropriate power utilization levels when performing certain tasks.
By breaking usage down to see specific scenarios and asking precision ag experts questions, farmers and equipment managers can make informed decisions about tractor models and implement pairing. For example, a farmer may opt for a smaller model if the soil conditions or tasks don’t require such a high horsepower need. On the other hand, the report may also reveal times when a smaller model is struggling and being pushed to its limits, where a higher horsepower is needed. The Operations Center will display if a tractor’s Engine Load Factor changes in different field zones. When we look at this inter-field variability, we can infer certain characteristics about the field conditions to experiment with, such as irrigation or tillage practices.
Engine Power Utilization, the Key to Efficiency
When a farmer evaluates their tractor usage and performance, they can quickly view the Engine Power Utilization to understand how efficiently the machine runs over time. The Operation Center combines Utilization reports, fuel consumption, and engine speed data to create a horsepower visualization that shows a tractor’s engine power. This visualization can help a farmer to quickly understand how much of the tractor’s total product hours generate a high Engine Load Factor and perform tasks that require more of its potential power. When farmers began to practice periodic monitoring of Engine Power Utilization, they made data-informed choices to use the right machine size model to increase overall efficiency.
By gaining this knowledge, farmers can find the best Engine Load Factor percentage for each tractor. They can do this by using data and performance evaluations to make informed decisions. Farmers can help their equipment managers understand each tractor’s horsepower usage and its relationship to specific field tasks. Then the equipment managers can schedule maintenance during high Engine Load Factor times. With precision ag data, each tractor’s engine power can be used at maximum efficiency while decreasing the risk for downtime. When farmers optimize their fleet’s performance, they can lower the risk of increased maintenance costs and support future fleet expansion decisions.
Ready to examine your connected tractor data sets more closely? Contact your local RDO dealer or visit RDOEquipment.com for more information.
Maria Zepeda grew up in southern Arizona, a witness to the intriguing desert agriculture. She accomplished her B.S. in Agricultural Systems Management at the University of Arizona. Since then, she earned her Certified Crop Advisor with a Precision Agriculture Specialty (PASp) Certification. Zepeda serves as the Southwest Region Agronomist for RDO Equipment Co. and takes part in equipment demos, community outreach, research, and equipment trials.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow
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