It’s clear that we can’t keep practising the old way of agriculture without Tractors if we want the agriculture sector to maximise all her arable land.

 

Failure to fully embrace modern agriculture technology is the reason why despite the abundance of fertile lands in Nigeria, we experience high crop damages on our farms, low yields and poor productivity in our farming operations.

 

In order to boost food and crop production in Nigeria, the use of tractors and agriculture equipment in Nigeria must become the common, accepted and standards method of practising agriculture in Nigeria. There’s simply no other way.

 

If fully embraced and well deployed, modern agriculture technology will allow Nigeria fulfil her potential of producing enough food to feed the whole of Africa. And the place to begin this application of modern agriculture technology to improve agriculture in Nigeria is with Tractors.

 

WHAT ARE TRACTORS USED FOR?

Tractors are the most versatile farming and agricultural equipment available today. A tractor is a powerful motor vehicle used for pulling farm machinery or an agricultural equipment that carries out an operation on the farmland.

Tractors emerged from the old traction engines. Traction-engine were vehicles powered by steam or diesel used for pulling heavy loads. Tractors are a key component of modern agriculture technology which is also referred to as Precision Agriculture.

 

Get service manuals and workshop repair manuals for tractors and agriculture equipment here.

 

Precision agriculture is the entire system of equipment and technology that enables accurate application of crop fertilizer, planting and nurturing of seeds and harvesting crops without or with very little wastage and damage to the crops.

 

Precision agriculture can also be defined as the automatic operation of farming equipment to improve efficiency and productivity in farming by eliminating the damages to crops, errors and wastages caused by human fatigue and frailty.

 

Tractors are very important in precision agriculture because they drive the sophisticated agriculture equipment that increases farming productivity.

 

 

 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRACTORS

Tractors can be classified into 3 major divisions or classes namely:

• Construction type
• Drive type
• Usage type

 

 

CONSTRUCTION TYPE TRACTOR

Construction type tractors can be further divided into 2 sub-categories:

1. The first sub-category is the type of tractor where the driver can sit easily and drive the tractor.

 

2.  The second sub-category is the tractor in which the operator walks alongside it and it is also called a Walking Type Tractor.

 

DRIVE TYPE TRACTOR

The second class of tractors is Drive Type. There are two drive types of tractors:

• Track Type
• Wheel Type

 

Track Type Tractors

The track type of tractors can be further broken down into Half Track and Full Track tractors.

Full Track Tractors

In these types of tractors, instead of wheels, a track is fitted on either side of the tractor. This track gets drive from the sprocket run by real axle shaft. With these type of tractors, there is no steering gear fitted. The tractor is steered by applying brakes to one side of the track while the other track is in motion.

 

Half Track Tractors

In these types of Tractors, a small track chain is fitted at the rear end only while tyres are fitted at the front axle. Track Type Tractors are generally used for reclaiming barren lands and are not used much for agricultural tasks.

 

These machines are fitted with tracks in such a way that the contact area with ground is larger and facilitates in increased traction power. These type of tractors are very useful in dams and in areas where earth moving tasks are required.

 

Wheel Type Tractors

Wheel type of tractors can also be sub-divided into i) Two Wheeler or 2 Wheeled ii) Three Wheeler or 3 Wheeled and iii) Four Wheeler types of tractors.

 

These types of tractors are primarily used for agricultural tasks. They have fast running speed and the fitted tyres are able to absorb certain amount of field shock too.

 

The domain of use for these types of tractors are small farms, hilly regions and for general gardening purpose.

 

Three Wheel or Tricycle Type

Three Wheeled Tractors were very popular 20 years back but now they have been replaced by Four Wheelers. They have single or dual wheel fitted at the front end and were considered apt for moving around shorter turns.

 

Get service manuals and workshop repair manuals for tractors and agriculture equipment here.

 

USAGE TYPE TRACTORS

The tractors in the third classification depend upon the purpose for which they are used. Based on their usage, tractors can be further divided into the categories below:

1. Utility Tractors
2. Row Crop Tractor
3. Orchard Type
4. Industrial Tractor
5. Garden Tractor
6. Rotary Tillers
7. Implement Carrier
8. Earth Moving Tractors

 

Utility Tractor is a general purpose tractor and it is designed for ploughing and driving any other equipment through its drive and is considered good for farms where farmers cannot afford more machines to perform specific jobs.

 

Row Crop Tractor

This is a multi-purpose tractor that is designed to perform almost every farm task like ploughing, pulling seed drills, levelling, harrowing, running different machines like water pumps, threshers and sprayers. Some of the attributes of these types of tractors are:

 

•  Good ground level clearance
•  Easy to steer; can take short turns
•  Easy to driver and user-friendly
• Attaching and detaching agricultural attachments is fast and simple
• Good row spacing facility
• Ease of detaching and attaching agricultural implements is very high
• Provision for power-take-off is also included

 Get service manuals and workshop repair manuals for tractors and agriculture equipment here.

 

Orchard Type Tractor

The orchard type tractor is compact and no part of these machines hangs or protrudes outside the surface. These types of tractor have increased height so that they can be used for plucking of fruits.

Industrial Type Tractor

The industrial type of tractors is also called Tuggers. They are useful in pulling loads and are fitted with crane boom for easy lifting of loads.

Get service manuals and workshop repair manuals for tractors and agriculture equipment here.

 

Garden Type

These type of tractors fall in the power range of 1 to 10 HP (Horse Power) and have very small construction size. They are mostly used for Grass Cutting or for making Flower Beds in the garden.

 

Rotary Tillers

These type of tractors also fall under the category of Walking Type Tractors and are used in small fields or on hills where fields are smaller in size and are at different height levels. In such settings, ordinary equipment cannot work efficiently. Blades are fitted to the tillers for the purpose of preparing seed beds efficiently by pulverizing the content of soil.

 

Implement Carrier

These types of Tractors have an extended chassis frame between the front and rear tyres where all agricultural implements like Seed Drills, Fertilizer, Drill, Duster, Sprayer, Rotary Sweeper, Loader, and platforms can be easily mounted.

 

Earth Moving Tractors

These farm machines are heavy in weight and quite strong. They are available in both track and tyre type varieties. Their primary usage is for doing earth moving work on dams, quarries and different types of constructional works.

 

PRICE OF TRACTOR IN NIGERIA

Tractor prices in Nigeria depends on the drive and life-cycle of the tractor. For example a brand new 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive tractor can be bought for N15,000,000 and N20,000,000 respectively while used 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive tractors can be bought for N8,000,000 and N13,000,000 respectively.

Get service manuals and workshop repair manuals for tractors and agriculture equipment here.

 

If you want to see how 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive tractors will perform on your farm, signup to watch our free tractor tutorial videos by clicking here. Also, to know the factors to consider before you buy a tractor, click here

 

If you have any questions or inquiries about tractors and precision agriculture, please send a mail to agsolutions@agricdemy.com