A tractor is a versatile earth moving equipment that finds many uses at a construction site. While its primary purpose is to pull or push loads, it is also used as a mount for many types of accessories, such as front-end shovels, bulldozers and others. There are types and sizes to fit almost any job for which they are usable.
Types of Tractors
Tractors may be divided into two major types: Crawler Tractors and Wheel Tractors.
Crawler Tractor
Crawler tractors are usually rated by size or weight and power. The weight is important on many projects because the maximum tractive effort that a unit can provide is limited to the product of weight times the coefficient of traction for the unit and the particular road surface, regardless of the power supplied by the engine.
Wheel Tractor
Wheel tractors are either two-wheel or four-wheel. One of the primary advantages of a wheel tractor compared with a crawler tractor is the higher speed that may exceed (50 km/hr). However, in order to attain a higher speed, a wheel tractor must sacrifice pulling effort.
Difference between Wheel and Crawler Tractors
| Wheel Tractors | Crawler Tractors |
| 1. Can travel fast | 1. Travel slowly |
| 2. Not more powerful and hence used for light duty jobs. | 2. Very powerful and hence used for powerful jobs. |
| 3. Less costly | 3. Costly due to use of chains |
| 4. Less operation and maintenance cost | 4. More operation and maintenance cost |
| 5. Require less skill for their operation because of wheels. | 5. Requires more skill for their operation |
| 6. Can be used for roads or pavements. | 6. Used for rough ground conditions |
| 7. Self-driven for longer distance hence transportation is easy. | 7. Transportation for longer distance required with trailers. |
| 8. Does not have better stability during working | 8. Does have better stability during working. |
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Also Read: Construction Equipments for Different Purposes