From the perspective of the production and use of tractors, the main development trends of tractors are:
1. The average power keeps increasing. Regardless of agricultural tractors or industrial tractors, in order to improve the productivity of a single machine, the average power continues to increase, but the growth rate has a decreasing trend. In North America and the Soviet Union, due to the small population and large scale of agricultural production, most of them used large agricultural machinery and equipped with corresponding high-power tractors. In general developing countries, small and medium power tractors are still the main ones, but their average power is also increasing.
2. Wheeled tractors have an absolute advantage in agricultural tractors. Crawler tractors are basically not used in agricultural production in many countries. In the Soviet Union, Italy and China, although some crawler tractors are still in use, their proportion is also declining. In industrial tractors, especially bulldozers, excavators and other models, the crawler still has an absolute advantage. With the increase of tractor power, four-wheel drive tractors have developed rapidly. The application of hydraulic steering device can solve the difficult steering problem of this model, and the articulated steering can greatly reduce the turning radius. These factors have promoted the development of high-power four-wheel drive tractors. In order to improve the traction attachment performance and passing capacity in paddy fields, the four-wheel drive variants of small and medium-power wheeled tractors have also achieved rapid development in Japan and other countries.
3. More and more attention is paid to the safety, ease of operation and comfort of the working environment of tractors. A well-designed and manufactured cab and various instruments can not only improve the driver’s working conditions and ensure safety, but also improve labor productivity and work quality.
4. The serialization, generalization and standardization of tractors and their parts are important measures to facilitate production, use, reduce manufacturing costs and simplify the supply of accessories. In order to meet the needs of the tractor market with fewer basic models of tractors, major tractor companies in Europe and America produce one or several series of products. In the Soviet Union and other countries, there is a nationally unified tractor series model spectrum to guide the development of various production plants. Develop basic tractor models with two or more power levels and certain organic connections and their corresponding variants to form a series of products, which can make the parts between products have the highest degree of generalization, thereby increasing the general zero The production batch of components; or can produce similar parts on the same processing line, and assemble similar components and adjacent grade tractors on the same assembly line. This is very beneficial for making full use of production capacity and reducing production costs.
5. The application of hydraulic technology on tractors is increasingly widespread. In modern tractors, especially large tractors, hydraulic devices are used for the manipulation of almost all main components, such as clutches, power shifts of gearboxes, differential locks, brakes and steering mechanisms. On some tractors, hydraulic devices are also used for seat adjustment and glass window opening and closing. The electronic-hydraulic control suspension system has been adopted on some tractors. Due to the convenient arrangement of the control switch, the hydraulic pipeline can be shortened accordingly, and it will be more used on large tractors.
6. Some components of the tractor bear random alternating loads for a long time, which will cause fatigue damage and affect the working reliability and life of the tractor. In order to further improve product quality, major tractor companies have invested a lot of money and manpower to prepare parts load spectra under various working conditions, organize simulation tests and stress analysis, and compile electronic computers on the basis of accumulating large amounts of experimental data. Software, optimized design. This can not only improve product quality, but also shorten the development cycle of new products. Advanced tractor manufacturers have applied computer-aided design (CAD) methods for product design. The research and application of optimized design are also receiving increasing attention.
