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.
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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
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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 PowerTiller 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 can be
used for:
•Drip irrigation
•Irrigation Guns
•Furrow Irrigation
•Field Flooding in Patty
Rice
Irrigation pumps available for two wheel tractors can
pump at 100-300 GPM depending on pump size and
engine horsepower.
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.