- The Super Irrigator
a. The Super Pivot: tractor wheels powered by an electic motor slide radially and rotate the pivot for spiral furrows. Easiest low tech fully automated field.
A conventional pivot costs less than $1000/acre, chump change for a berry operation.
b. same as a but the radial movement is discrete: once/ revolution for circular furrows.
c. Cartesian version of b based on the linear irrigator.
- The Full Trolly Tractor
Trolly lines and poles cover the entire field and supply continuous power. Tractor has a battery or battery trailer only for movement to another field.
- The Half Trolly - Half Battery Tractor
Eliminates half the trolly lines and poles of 2. The lines recharge the battery and power the tractor half the time. The other half of the time the battery powers the tractor.
Similar to the battery - trolly bus.
- Exchangeable Battery Tractor
Two ends of the field are electrified with 2 wires to recharge 4 batteries. On one end the tractor scoops up a recharged battery for one side of the tractor, makes the turn and then drops off the spent battery. At the other end of the field the battery on the opposite side of the tractor is swapped out.
Bret Cahill