This Uxbridge farmer is ditching diesel for a solar-powered tractor

Small-scale organic farming conjures bucolic images of days spent under blue skies doing honest work and living close to the land. All that, says Uxbridge farmer Tony Neale, is true. Farmer Tony Neale sits atop his electric tractor, which he charges using solar panels installed on his farm near Uxbridge in 2018. But it’s hard to enjoy nature when you’re riding on the back of a clunky diesel tractor whose engine can be deafening and exhaust can be noxious. “It’s just as loud as you’d think,” Neale said. “You can’t hear anything. You have to wear ear plugs. And even then you’re still breathing diesel fumes all day.” Surely, Neale thought, in the 21st century there’s got to be a better way. If there are electric cars on our streets, someone must be making electric tractors for our fields. After a bit of internet searching, Neale was able to find examples of farmers who had stripped down old tractors, added electric motors and batteries. Read more: Scientists say they’ve found a mineral to help capture carbon dioxide naturally, and it came from mine tailings But one engineer in California had taken his tinkering to the next level and produced […]

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