Project View

Agrarian walk-behind tractor

Niagara, Ontario and Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Quebec

133

Published: 2024-07-31

Other Geared Hub

Multi-Motor

Powerful

Wheelbarrow

Pre-commercial prototype 2-wheel tractor for light tillage and precision jobs on organic farms. The Thiessen Agrarian uses geared in-wheel motors to allow easy changes to wheel spacing and other configuration variables while providing enough torque for the most demanding jobs. These tractors will help to advance the lineage of other walk-behind tractors that have proven their worth for seeding, weeding, light tillage, transport and other tasks since as far back as the 1940s but now with the quiet power and control of electric drive.

finished just in time for the show, the Agrarian was virtually complete and mostly functional! — Agrarian at Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Conference trade show, Feb 2024

The 3.5kWh battery pack from Standard Battery is way overkill but also very cool looking and good ballast because it's full of angry pixies! — Agrarian from the front, OFVC trade show, Feb 2024

We finally found a quiet day to replace the 4-12 tires with the 5-12s we had always intended to put on but couldn't due to shipping delays. They do look better and provide a bit more traction to get closer to matching the tractor's capabilities. — new 5-12 tires at last!

This is the motor side of one of the wheel — wheel mount leg detail

most of the Agrarian, final assembly at Thiessen Tillage

The Agrarian prototype got dirty almost immediately by heading to western Quebec where it could begin — Early spring testing in unheated greenhouse

These motors are capable of about 1000 W output at 3500-5000rpm & 48-58V. They are outrunners inside a finned aluminium case. Ordered from MAC motors in China — motor detail

the combination of compact BLDC motor and planetary gear reducer means that the entire drivetrain is nearly hidden within the profile of the driven wheel, limiting damage to crops when weeding later in the season and providing unmatched clearance in all regards — custom wheel and gearbox

A renaissance in walk-behind tractors is afoot with Thiessen Tillage and Tilmor now offering a vast array of the most modern mechanical weeding tools as well as power units like the Agrarian and the Tilmor Power Ox. — Agrarian in the field with Thiessen and Tilmor weeding tools

The walk-behind in the background is one of the best of all time, a Planet Jr. BP-1 from the 1940s. Ours has been converted to battery-electric power because awesome but the Agrarian is even Awesomer! — new and old working together

Here's a larger 3-row weeding tool hitched to the Agrarian. It is possible to manage many acres of crops with a power unit like this and have enough runtime to complete even the busiest day on the farm — Agrarian with bigger tool

Additional Info

https://www.thiessentillage.com

Grin products used in Agrarian!

We love way our minimalist dash and ultra simple operator interface leans on all the years of refinement of the Cycle Analyst and makes it possible to teach someone how to operate this machine in less than a minute.

Our dash just has the CA, an E-stop switch and an external pot wired to the CA as analogue Aux input. The pot dials in the target top speed which is always displayed on top right of CA's main screen. An operator can thus be told something like, "for broccoli you want to go 4km/h with the finger weeders at 2wk stage" and he or she simply dials in the target speed and feathers the throttle for speed control until they get the hang of it, eventually just pinning the throttle to focus on steering. When the job is done you dial max speed back up to 7 or 8 km/h to walk to your next destination.

The Emergency stop mushroom switch is main power and the only other part of the operator interface other than a wig-wag bidirectional throttle coupled to custom hand levers that you squeeze to go faster or push away from you to reverse.

Each motor is controlled by a v.6 Phaserunner but they're so small that they go virtually unnoticed. Amazing power density and ultra detailed backend configurability plus awesome integration with the CA and waterproof connectors. This combo may just survive farm abuse!

bench testing in the lead up to final assembly

not yet perfect but good enough for a prototype — under the dash

the user interface is pretty fast to grasp, literally, for anyone with two arms. You have a pair of handles to direct, a throttle to squeeze with either hand. On-Off is the big red button and the small knob beside sets maximum speed. Simple is good. — operator's view!

Mostly this is just amazing because the Phaserunners are so TINY! Awesome work Grinfolk! — parts on bench