By, Richard Lee Moore III Agribusiness and Crop & Soil Science

Two wheel tractors are also known as walking tractors or PTOS (Power Tiller Operated Seeders) and they are single-axle tractors, self-powered and self-propelled, which can pull and power various farm implements such as a trailer, cultivator or harrow, a plough, or various seeders and harvesters. The operator usually walks behind it or rides the implement being towed. Two wheel tractors are built with 6 to 20 horsepower engines, and they are usually single cylinder diesel engines because diesel is subsidized in many developing countries and it is more widely available.

 China is estimated to have 10 Million two wheel tractors in use The majority of two wheel tractors in production are made in China and are of the Dong Feng type  Thailand has approximately 3 Million  Bangladesh is estimated to have 300,000  Sri Lanka has 125,000  Nepal has 15,000  Nigeria has 1,000  USAID subsidized 6,000 tractors for farmers in Afghanistan and trained 200 mechanics  Central and South America(Motocultors)  Africa has an increasing demand for two wheel tractor use because of the opportunity to increase yields

 Land Preparation and Cultivation  Grain Drilling  Fertilizer application  Irrigation  Harvesting  Threshing  Farm to Market Transportation

CIMMYT is working in Bangladesh with Two Wheel Tractors to help farmers improve their crop yields, increase food security, and their livelihoods. Research done by CIMMYT cropping system agronomists have proven higher yields by using two wheel tractors with seed drills attached. This increase in yield can be attributed to the precision application of seed being evenly placed, rather than broadcasting seed.

Two wheel tractors have Roto-Tiller and Power- Tiller attachments for soil Cultivation. Typically all tractors come with a power tiller standard.

Discs and Plows can be attached to cultivate the soil. Disc attachments typically have 2-3 cutting wheels, and plow attachments will have a single moldboard plow or a chisel plow with 2-4 shanks.

Attachments can purchased or built for raised seed bed cultivation for producing vegetable crops or in areas with high rainfall. The attachment pictured on the right is a bed ridger built by CIMMYT in Mexico.

Two wheel tractors can also be used to cultivate paddy rice when steel wheels are attached. This is the main use for tractors in much of Asia.

No-Till attachments can be made or purchased for direct seeding and fertilization. These attachments place seeds the correct distance apart and at the right depth, a big improvement over broadcasting in seed.

Strip tillage can be achieved by removing tines from the tiller and leaving only the tines that are in front of the seed drills on the planter.

Precision Application of fertilizers can be achieved by liquid fertilizer attachments and by banding fertilizer in the seed bed.

Irrigation pumps available for two wheel tractors can pump at GPM depending on pump size and engine horsepower. Irrigation pumps can be used for: Drip irrigation Irrigation Guns Furrow Irrigation Field Flooding in Patty Rice

Two wheel tractors have reaper and swather attachments for harvesting wheat, rice, and corn. These attachments will bind the crop or discharge it in a row alongside the reaper.

The tractors are used to power grain threshing machines by removing the engine belt and connecting a different belt to the pulleys.

Two wheel tractors are used to transport produce from the farm to markets. Trailers can be attached with seats for the driver to ride on and steer the tractor. Some models will have driveshaft's that power the axle on the trailer. In the picture above the two wheel tractor shown is pulling 5 Tons of wheat.

PTOS(Power Tiller Operated Seeder) and other resource-conserving technologies enable farmers to till the soil and sow crops more efficiently. This conserves and protects the productivity and quality of soil, water, and other natural resources upon which long-term agricultural productivity depends. -CIMMYT With expected increases in the population of the World, products such as two wheel tractors will become more important for improving food security in developing countries by increasing the precision of agricultural production.