The hustle and bustle of harvest season marks an exciting and pivotal time when farmers begin converting the fruits of their labor into financial stability and growth for the next year. Traditional harvest operations are associated with certain challenges — communicating over a diesel engine and generator, inhaling fumes, and trying to ensure safety for farmhands who are working in proximity to a tractor. These become especially tricky during nighttime operations. The MK-V, working as a vineyard tractor for nighttime harvests, helps farmers overcome these challenges.
Join Monarch Tractor product manager, Tyler Spoleti, as he takes an up-close look at nighttime harvest operations with Monarch’s MK-V.
During harvest season last year, the MK-V customer fleet logged nearly 8,000 hours hauling bins, lighting operations, providing exportable power, and giving crews a safer, quieter, and cleaner work environment. Spoleti works closely with customers to understand their needs and wishes and explores solutions with the tractor to help with their operations.
During harvest, particularly at night, farmers and farmhands want quiet. One of the most conspicuous traits of an idling MK-V is the absence of noise. Workers don’t have to shout to be heard.
A seven-hour harvesting operation burns through nearly 20 gallons of diesel and that doesn’t even account for the fuel needed to power a generator for a light tower. It’s easy to see how the diesel savings of the 100% electric MK-V quickly add up. Plus, replacing a diesel vineyard tractor with an electric, compact tractor safeguards the quality of the grapes, which don’t get coated in a fine layer of diesel emission particulates. It also protects farm workers’ health, as they aren’t forced to inhale diesel fumes for hours on end.
As a mobile power wall, the MK-V is the generator, powering the tractor and light tower via a 12V connector that’s built into the tractor. Bright work lights are also integrated into the MK-V and some farmers report that these powerful work lights met their harvest needs.
While light towers and work lights brighten the rows for farmworkers, farm managers use the MK-V’s technology platform, Wingspan Ag Intelligence (WingspanAI), for their own visibility on harvest operations. From anywhere and anytime (provided there is connection to cellular service), managers can bring up the WingspanAI app on their device and track the location of any tractor in their MK-V fleet, saving them time and peace of mind.
While harvest with an MK-V electric tractor provides immediate value to farms, the end consumer also benefits. Cleaner crops make for a higher quality crop, harvested by workers who enjoyed a safer, calmer work environment. Lower ag-related air emissions improve air quality, supporting a healthier community. That’s a food system worth growing.