My name is Ryan Steiner, I'm the director of engineering for Venture Products. We
manufacture the Ventrac line of equipment. Our most recent project is the
the new Ventrac 4500 tractor. We've been working on it off and on roughly four
years now, we started back in 2008. Largely looking for improvements, ways we
could make the the Ventrac 4100 and 4200 even better and ultimately what we
wanted to see and what our customers wanted to see in a new product and a
variety of things came up. Anything from simplifying the weight transfer control
system to making certain controls more intuitive, more accessible, to improving
the comfort levels that- the ergonomics of the tractor and even to various
safety or service type items. In 2011 EPA phase three took effect for gasoline engines.
There were a lot of different changes that manufacturers had to make to meet
the new emissions, and that was followed by tier four for diesel engines. With
tier four comes much more stringent exhaust levels to the point that some
engines made by some manufacturers simply will not meet that requirement.
Unfortunately for Ventrac, the engines that we have used over the last number
of years, those are slated to be discontinued here in 2012. When we
received that notice we step back and took a long hard look at many different
engine manufacturers and trying to, one, identify which engines could of course
fit and be used in our application, but also which ones had superior brand
recognition, superior serviceability, and those that would be very well suited to
Ventrac applications. In the Ventrac 4,500 tractor there are three gasoline
engines that we'll be offering. The first is a Vanguard model 54 engine it's a 31
horse air-cooled engine. The second is a Kawasaki 31 horse fuel-injected engine
and the third is a Kubota 32 horse gasoline engine that can also be
configured to run on propane. Venture products is excited to offer a propane
option for the Ventrac 4500 tractor and as we look at propane and where the
market has been going over the years we've seen a lot of mowers powered by
propane engines and we're pleased to be one of the first if not the first to
offer a tractor that runs on propane that can do more than just mow. There are
a number of benefits to propane. One is that it's a cleaner burning fuel and
it's a more stable fuel supply. Most of propane is produced here in North
America. Most common that people think of is that the propane will produce lower
exhaust emissions, and that's true, it does. Because it's a cleaner burning fuel
you'll also have a cooler, cleaner running engine and ultimately extending
the life of your engine.
With the development of the 4500 one of the key
areas that we looked at was the operator ergonomics, and so that can be anything
from the steering wheel placement to the seat, and how the seat feels to where
controls are located for operating the tractor. The automotive style park brake
was one, and getting it to the point where it's and intuitively placed and
intuitively able to be used control. The PTO belt tensioner- we completely revised
how that's done and rather than being back near the operator on the seat it's
now located up on the front of the tractor very close to the idler pulley
where a belt horn attachment is put on or off of the
tractor. The weight transfer system is very similar to the design that we've
used for many years now on the 3200 tractors. It's a one lever system, five
positions, and can be set from essentially zero assist all the way to the maximum
assist. Very easy to see and use at any point on the tractor. The steering system
one key area that people requested was increased steering force, especially for
those that are operating with duals and on hillsides.
And so the 4500 tractor uses a larger diameter steering cylinder to provide
approximately 30% more steering force than the 4100 and 4200 tractors. With the
design of the 4500 dash, we took a good look at what information the operators
wanted conveyed to them the first isn't- is the information gauge, mounted at the
center of the dash, right in your line of sight, and conveys your engine RPM,
there's your ground speed in miles per hour or kilometers per hour. It also
informs of your fuel levels, your engine temp for liquid cooled engines, and also
the hours on your tractor. The warning gauge is located to the right of the
dash, still located in your field of vision, and includes warning lights for
your high temps of engines, hydraulic oil, low oil pressure, low voltage, and also
includes a light to identify if your park brake is on. One of the design
challenges for us was that even though we were using slightly longer engines or
have a slightly longer engine bay a challenge was can we be as maneuverable
or more maneuverable than the 4100 and 4200 tractors today and so as a challenge and
as keeping that in the forefront of our design we're actually able to make the
tractor turn tighter than the smaller 4100 4200 tractors, which ultimately means
that you as an operator now have a more maneuverable machine and are better able
to turn, better able to follow the terrain that you are operating on. One of
the key areas that we look to improve on the new Ventrac 4500 tractor was the
electrical system and requests were for a variety of things from better
corrosion resistance to battery quick disconnects - just simpler easier to use
and to diagnose in the event of a electrical issue and so we started with
the battery and we used an automotive style battery, for one. From there we
progress into additional circuit breakers or fuses relays all of which
are sealed from the elements. Anywhere that we could use a sealed connector we
did. New to the Ventrac 4500 is a tractor control module
and this module is a microprocessor mounted up inside the dash of the
tractor in a sealed, protected box and what it does is controls many of the
safety features and functions of the tractor. We've made it easy. The Ventrac
tractor control module has LED lights that are labeled from the outside that
will tell you if a circuit is open or closed, if there's a fault, you can
quickly and easily diagnose it all from the tractor control module. With the 4500
tractor we offer a lot of different accessories so that you can figure-
configure your tractor exactly like you wanted. Many of these accessories that
are electrical are pre-wired into the tractor harness so that when you get
this accessory many of the wires that pass through the chassis are already
there and it's a matter of you just connecting- connecting the switches or
connecting the light or the outlet to the tractor. So this greatly simplifies and
reduces the installation time. One of the questions that we get is, "Hey, I've got a
4100 or 4200 tractor already. Why should I look at buying a new 4500?" Well,
I'd say look at the things that we've designed into the 4500 for your operator
comfort, for your serviceability, for your reliability, and even for the power that
you have. Take a look at those things. I trust that you will like what you see
with the new design.