Yoke traction engine

[Laapa]

To those not familiar with the concept, Michael Williams describes it in his excellent book "Tractor Power" from Farming Press (I belive he is also a Profi contributor), as: "The Yoke is a big engine with its own hydrostatic transmission to a pair of driving wheels. It is attached to the back of a conventional tractor, with a set of engine controls operated from the cab."

This looks to me like a truly excellent idea. I relativelt small tractor can be used for spraying etc, then hook up a 150 hp extra engine and set of driving wheels do to some serious tillage work. As I understand it, one problem was making the yoke keep the same speed as the tractor, but surely such problems could now be solvesd with modern technology.

Anybody know what happend to the idea?

[[e-mail]]

i have the same book too. is that the book with a massey on front and has a deutz in back pages in technology section.

it shows a small fiat with the yoke and a plough. does it not tell you all about the transmission?

[Si]

I think it was hydrostatic transmission, with a control valve fitted to the hitch point, but I stand to be corrected
Cheers
Simon

[Laapa]

What I wonder is what happened to to concept lately? Perhaps the transmission could be better controlled with even more modern technology.

[eppie]

Could you make the control of that traction engine via the EHR hitch computer? when the tractor has a heavy pull, the Yoke (or is it joke?) will pull faster.


Or another idea:

We make an extra differential on the tractor. Between rear axle and transmission. If there is nothing attached to the shaft of that extra differential, it will turn, and the tractor will stop moving forward. So we need a brake on this shaft when nothing attached to it.

When we go heavy tilling, we attach a similar traction engine to that shaft. When the tractor will spin, the differential is regulated to transfer the over-power to the axle of the traction engine. And vice versa. It's becoming a kind of power distribution system. A differential similar to that of the Volvo XC AWD and the VW Syncro will do great for this job. Or would it be equal to an "external Vario transmission" ?  <br>HA.. You will have a standard low spec low hp tractor with mech. trannie, and a powerful vario tractor in one?!

Food for thought..

Goed goan, Renze

[eppie]

Does anyone "get"  it??

(the joke part and the technological part)