Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Chelsea tractors

Brand new shiny tractors for use in cities.
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I thought about the expression 'Chelsea tractors' earlier, and I thought: 'why not?'

Why indeed not? A modern tractor has a luxurious interior already with air-conditioning, bouncy seats and numerous joysticks and computer screens, it would take very little to design in a few more seats, a walnut dash and a GPS. Maybe some of the space normally given at the back to be able to see the 3 point linkage out of the rear window could be given up as boot-space.

Naturally, hydraulics, PTO and three point linkage would be retained (initially, at least) to really show off to those peasants who can only afford Range Rovers. This could also leaves the possibility for the creation of interesting urban attachments.

In cities, I would imagine that there would be little need for these to go faster than 30mph, but I bet with a higher gear than usual a modern tractor could get to at least 40mph: I know we've had our Unimog of the 1970s up to 55mph, and the JCB Fastrac can get to 50mph.

If you don't know what I mean about tractor cabs being close to luxurious, see [link]s.

In fact, according to the Massey Ferguson link, it seems that they already have GPS units in them, so that is one fewer thing to add to your Chelsea tractor.

I'm disappointed by no category for 'Tractor' by the way.

TomP, Nov 21 2011

Massey Ferguson's latest http://www.masseyfe...mf7600VIP/tour.html
Not for dial-up connections! Look at the interior and the controls sections. [TomP, Nov 21 2011]

Random chioce from Same http://www.same-tra..._CABIN&idproduct=28
Just add a walnut dash and a seat or two. [TomP, Nov 21 2011]

Reason people keep their distance from tractors in the city https://www.youtube...watch?v=CYJHKyIUeNk
[pashute, Nov 08 2015]

[link]






       I forsee parking problems...
xandram, Nov 21 2011
  

       I seem to recall Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson driving a tractor in an urban area, with predictably disastrous results.
infidel, Nov 22 2011
  

       The almighty Unimog, despite appearances, is in fact a truck.
Alterother, Nov 22 2011
  

       I would argue that appearances are all that a Unimog has to make it a truck: it even has crawler and super-crawler gears, three point linkage, hydraulics and front and rear PTOs as standard. But some are used as trucks. Thinking about it, there was an urbanised Unimog which sold particularly well in Dubai. Called the 'Black Edition'.
TomP, Nov 23 2011
  

       My duece-anna-half has all of those features as well (save that it has only one crawler range, and I do not own the optional 3-point hitch kit), but nobody would call it a tractor. Militaries across the world use Unimogs and classify them as trucks. Sometimes they're called things like 'all-terrain transport/cargo vehicles', but that's just a fancy name for 'big gnarly truck'. 'Tractor' is also a word with many definitions, but the line must be drawn somewhere; Unimogs and their ilk are designed to run on roads for extended trips, whereas agricultural tractors are not.   

       I hate to be a nit-picker, but I love 'Mogs and won't have them sullied in this fashion.
Alterother, Nov 23 2011
  

       Fair enough - I will admit that the word 'truck' never escapes my descriptions of 'mogs to the uninitiated. There is certainly a case both ways, as it does have features of both, as was the idea when first deisgned in 1946. The original was intended as an agricultural vehicle which could also be driven on the road. Modern ones are probably more for driving on (and heavily off) the road but can also be used as an agricultural vehicle.   

       However, the original point of mentioning Unimogs was to demonstrate that with an engine which would not be out of place in a tractor and a gearbox which has higher gear ratios than usually found in tractors, existing technology should be able to boost these urban tractors to at least 50mph.
TomP, Nov 24 2011
  

       //urbanised Unimog which sold particularly well in Dubai// I haven't seen one in my 11 years here.   

       The word tractor was taken from Latin, being the agent noun of trahere "to pull". The first recorded use of the word meaning "an engine or vehicle for pulling wagons or ploughs" occurred in 1901, displacing the earlier term traction engine (1859).   

       That definitions includes any vehicle you can pull in, so sports cars mainly.
marklar, Nov 24 2011
  

       I find your point acceptably valid, [TomP]. I'm not so sure about urbanized agricultural equipment, however.
Alterother, Nov 25 2011
  

       And people keep out of the way, because they're terrified its going to turn into a terror attack...
pashute, Nov 08 2015
  
      
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