tractor

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Modern tractor unit ( Iveco Stralis ) for road haulage in front of a decoupled tarpaulin semi-trailer
Kaelble Z6R3A tractor from 1937 (model)
Magirus-Deutz tractor from the 1970s

A tractor ( also Protz as an artillery tractor ) is a motor-driven tractor that is not itself intended to transport people or goods.

A tractor is therefore not a lorry (truck), but heard as cars and motorcycles to the cars . It is used to pull wagons , trailers , low loaders , semi-trailers , agricultural attachments , road scooters or non-powered vehicles. In France tractors were also the towing of barges on channels used.

Tractors are of motors driven take various forms (eg., From a combustion , more rarely by an electric motor , often used to from a steam engine ).

Tractors are not designed to transport goods or people. Vehicles that are self-propelled and are used to transport goods or people can very well be used like a tractor, but are then only called a tractor.

Types / Uses

Truck as a road vehicle

  • Semitrailer tractors (also articulated lorries or tugs for short ) are used to pull semitrailers and together form the semitrailer ( under traffic law: articulated vehicle ). With this combination, part of the load is carried via the fifth wheel of the tractor unit. In the case of a semitrailer bus, the semitrailer is used as a bus.
  • In the case of heavy transports (transport of goods that are not dimensionally and / or weight-correct), tractors are of elementary importance.
  • Terminal tractors are primarily used in ports and logistics centers.
  • For showmen , tractors are essential for the transport of their temporary structures . In Germany, they receive tax breaks for their vehicles

Agricultural and forestry tractor

  • Agricultural or forestry tractors such as tractors are designed according to their design for use in agricultural or forestry work and may only be used for such purposes if they receive tax breaks. (See also: Motor vehicle tax breaks for agriculture )

Tractors in towing operation

French “Chevaux électriques” in Courchelettes

In the north and east of France tractors were for towing of barges used. In addition to vehicles with internal combustion engines, especially those from the commercial vehicle manufacturer Latil , there were also electrically powered tractors whose engines were fed by overhead lines . Notable among them were the “Chevaux électriques”, three-wheeled vehicles with electric motors , of which 120 were in use in 1900.

Tractor as a rail vehicle

In the case of rail vehicles, the designation tractor is unusual, here corresponding vehicles are usually referred to as locomotives .

About the term tug

A Sd.Kfz. 6 ("Protz") when drawing artillery
Single-axle tractor Rapid S-Spezial
single- axle tractor
Modern tractors for agricultural use ( Ursus 11054 and Fendt 820 )
Ship as a tug

In some regions, tractors are also called tugs .

Tractors as a tractor

Tractors are tractor units and are also called tractors. They are mostly motor vehicles driven by a diesel engine for pulling mainly agricultural trailers and agricultural machinery. They are often equipped with special hydraulic systems for actuating lifting devices and with various equipment carriers and power take- offs.

Industrial trucks as a tractor

According to DIN ISO 5053 (old DIN 15140), tractors are defined as follows: “Tractors are industrial trucks without lifting equipment. They are used to pull and push other vehicles, primarily trailers . "

In large industrial companies, tractors are used for the in-house transport of loads. These mostly have an electric or diesel drive, but sometimes tractors with LPG or hybrid drives are also in use. Due to their emission-free operation, electrically powered tractors are mainly used when transport tasks have to be managed within closed buildings. If, on the other hand, comparatively large distances have to be overcome outdoors, diesel or LPG tractors are usually better suited. These typically have a longer range than battery-powered vehicles. Hybrid tractors have both an electric and a diesel engine. They are therefore always ideally suited if the application profile provides for both use in closed rooms and overcoming relatively large distances outdoors. The maximum trailer loads for electric tugs are between 1 ton and 50 tonnes, for diesel and LPG tractors mostly between 10 and 100 tonnes and for hybrid tugs typically between 20 and 40 tonnes.

Ships as tugs

Tugs are particularly powerfully motorized ships that are used to pull and push other ships or large floating objects. Mostly towing cables are used for pulling , which are hung on hooks on the tractor or rolled up on cable winches.

history

Powerful steam tractors for heavy transport

Tractors were known even before the introduction of internal combustion engines. On July 22, 1894, a steam tractor from De Dion, Bouton & Trépardoux with a Victoria passenger trailer and five people on board won the race from Paris to Rouen , but was not declared the winner because the vehicle was not "inexpensive and easy to use" has been. Tractors with steam power were used both for road transport and as tractors for arable work until the 1920s.

In England, there is still an active hobby scene to steam-powered tractors, their leisure activities around the traction engine operates. Steam tractors, the Lokomobile, also regularly take part in the oldest car race in the world, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run , in which only vehicles that were manufactured before 1905 are allowed.

Differentiation from the railroad

A powered railway vehicle is referred to as a traction vehicle that drives either alone or coupled with other traction vehicles, or that can transport non-powered vehicles. If a locomotive can transport people or goods, it is referred to as a railcar , otherwise as a locomotive .

Web links

Wiktionary: tractor  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. The Brockhaus in one volume . Leipzig 1994, ISBN 3-7653-1676-8 .
  2. Gérard Bianchi: Les Cahiers du Musée de la Batellerie. La traction mécanique sur berge en France . Association des amis du Musée de la Batellerie, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine 2015, ISBN 2-909044-69-6 , p. 7 .
  3. Les photos des Tracteurs Latil de halage at avant-train-latil.com, accessed on February 24, 2019
  4. Tracteur Latil au Guétin (Cher) at avant-train-latil.com, accessed on February 24, 2019
  5. Gérard Bianchi: Les Cahiers du Musée de la Batellerie. La traction mécanique sur berge en France . Association des amis du Musée de la Batellerie, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine 2015, ISBN 2-909044-69-6 , p. 7 .