The Trantor Tractor Project

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Category: Trantor

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 December 2010 19:31

Written by TIL

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The Trantor^® Tractor  Project  is moving toward the world’s market for farm machinery.

The Trantor farm transport tractor was conceived in the University of Manchester when the Faculty of Technology embraced the Manchester School of Management (now the Manchester Business School). It was this important coordination of Engineering (Design Manufacturing and Technology) and Business-focused market research that was encouraged by the “Action Learning” approach to education and training,  in that special part of academia, then known as Manchester’s “Tech”.

In the 70’s, Graham Edwards and Stuart Taylor, were fortunate to be interested in  Engineering Management and, in the Trantor tractor project they introduced some  fundamental analysis into the farming industry of the U.K.  In those days, farm machinery adopted a  “follow the lead of the tractor makers” philosophy.  The average U.K. h.p. of tractors in the U.K. was about 65, some combine harvesters were used, and almost all tractors were 2 Wheel Drive. The U.K was a major producer of over 400,000 tractors per annum, with over 70% of those being exported.

John Deere built a plough of steel in 1837, and 1976 was their bicentennial year. It is hardly surprising therefore, after such a long time working with the plough, that farmers have found it difficult to comprehend the practical on-farm research of W.S.H. (Stuart) Taylor. He simply asked the leading question – “For which tasks and for how long do you use your tractor?”  He found that, in time terms, ploughing is often a minor task, whereas Henry Ford noted that “There are 1700 – other – than ploughing duties for tractors”.

Being from an educational background the Trantor project team, wrote about and explained their on-farm experience. The material from their case studies helped engineers to appreciate what appeared to be a new reality in worldwide agriculture.  Alongside the action-learning procedures, the design team created a transport tractor for pulling trailers, but product development was aimed towards analysing the wide variety of low-draught duties, so that a revised tractor could be produced to perform all or most of those duties.

Farm machinery began to change rapidly in the 80’s and 4WDrive, safety cabins and higher horse power were centre stage.  At that time the Trantor team were trying to catch a runaway train and ploughing tractors became bigger and heavier in the pursuit of deeper ploughing, wider implements and labour efficiency.

A series of challenging problems arose:-

(i)   Where would the plus £5 million, to enter volume production, come from?

(ii)    Which of the main tractor markets required the Trantor most, and for what reason?

(iii)   How could the Trantor team persuade the farming community, to appreciate the value of reducing fuel-consumption and increasing speed, just as the ploughers  increased (slightly) their out of field operating speeds.

(iv)   How could fuel costs be properly considered when labour was so expensive and fuel costs such a small volume of total farm costs?

Two Decades of Failing to Acknowledge the Inevitable.

The realisation that ploughing damages the soil, the losses of carbon in the soil, the emergence of conservation and sustainable agriculture, the reduction of the worldwide water table, the emergence of peak-oil and the increase in price of diesel-fuel, have all contributed to make the future of Agriculture so different from the past.

By 2010, fuel costs had risen sharply to reach the level of labour costs, as the main costs of food production – worldwide.  In India, for example, the labour costs are a fraction of those in the U.K, yet fuel costs are roughly the same as in the U.K.

More fundamentally, however, ploughing should NOT be conducted, if the soil is to be preserved.  Prof. M. Dobre of Romania, the Sulky team and many others, have shown by their practical research that “the farmer must manage his soil” now and in to the future!

Just as these dramatic changes are occurring, the Trantor project has reached the stage where its PDF reports and written material can be a useful frame of reference, for teachers and others directing their attention to farm efficiency.

In the meantime, the  “Trantor Project Team” have produced some working documents to assist farmers and Agricultural Engineers, who are concerned about the future and consider change to be critical to the future.

These are listed below:-

PDF FILE-based  Brochures & Substantial Reports about the Trantor Project.

·  BROCHURE A - WORLDWIDE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE - WHERE THE TRANTOR TRACTOR FITS – (10 pages & 11 pictures).

·  BROCHURE B - WHAT IS A TRANTOR & WHAT CAN IT DO? – (13 pages & 13 pictures).

·  BROCHURE C – AN OVERVIEW OF THE WORLD’S FARM TRACTOR MARKET Examples from Middle East – (15 pages & 8 Pictures)

·  BROCHURE D - IS THERE A MARKET FOR TRANTOR TRACTORS IN THE WORLD OF FARM MACHINERY AND IF SO, WHERE IS THAT MARKET AND HOW BIG IS IT? – 29 pages (includes 2 graphs, 5 maps, tables 1 to 6 & 11 pictures). – Summary of a series of market researches in 15 countries.

·  BROCHURE E - WORK TASK ANALYSIS – A KEY PART OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE. – (6 pages, includes 5 charts & 2 pictures).

·  BROCHURE F - THREE NEW CONCEPTS – THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACTOR CHOICE FOR THE FUTURE IN CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE –  (6 pages & 8 pictures).

·  BROCHURE G - THE NEW TRANTOR TRANSPORT VEHICLE IS DESIGNED TO WORK MUCH MORE EFFICIENTLY ON PALM-OIL ESTATES THAN THE CONVENTIONAL “PLOUGHERS”.  (7 pages & 10 pictures).

·  BROCHURE H - SEEKING SUBSTAINTIAL, NEW ENERGY SAVINGS, whilst increasing the productivity of Farming Systems across the World – A Unique British Approach. (5 pages, 5 photos, 1 table & calculations)

·  BROCHURE J - INDIAN TRACTOR & TRAILERS + THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF EFFICIENT FARM TRANSPORTATION IN INDIA.

·  BROCHURE K - The Benefits of Using Trantor Tractors in a Farming Context – Based on Severn Trent Water Authority Work Study Report Findings – a thorough cost/benefit analysis on farm transportation (8 pages + diagrams & 7 photos)

The above brochures are available from P.M. Owen by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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