Ransomes MG, Do you need a driver ?

[franktonpaget]

Came across another article in a Agricultural Machinery Journal from 1970 reporting the development of Richardson Automatic Cultivating Equipment which used a Ransomes MG as the development testbed.
The MG with mounted ploughs at front and back was driverless and used a sensor controlled pneumatically controlled operation system invented by a Mr Richardson who had received financial backing from The National Research Development Corporation to develop the system into a three furrow form.
At the demonstration the performance was described “as erratic at times” with numerous minor difficulties to overcome !!!!!!
I wonder did it survive ? Mr Richardson would now be 90 so is probably not around but would it qualify for a vintage horticultural ploughing match ?? probably too late a model. Probably my sense of the ridiculous but a vision of sensor malfunction and it heading off across adjacent plots and resulting mayhem raise a smile. I suppose without driver insurance cover would not be available for public operation.
Is there any limit to the uses these Ransomes MG’s were put to, you cannot help but wonder if Ransomes had developed the Winget adaption construction side and embraced the hydraulic equipment/drives being developed there was a market or perhaps they did not want to upset other manufacturers in the market to the detriment of the Ransomes cultivation equipment

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[expeatfarmer]

Very interesting Joe. Every time I look at an MG crawler I question why on earth they stopped making them.

[franktonpaget]

Seen at the Royal Show 1993 on display was the Powa-Trac 36 Crawler about the same size as a MG40 with a Lombardini diesel engine powering hydraulic drive, attachments and pto

Developed in Jersey as the salesman said to replace the old Ransome MG crawlers that were getting a bit long in the tooth
Quite a nice looking modern machine ,I only saw them displayed at the Royal Show that one year and wonder what happened to them, at £16,000 for the basic machine they looked costly compared with the Japanese four wheel drive mini tractors also at the show

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[trusty220]

Tractors (London) Ltd. also made a Trusty that they claimed was steered by radar back in the forties/fifties. I will try to find out some more, but don’t confuse it with the remote-controlled Trusty that used ex-RAF controls and servo motors from the Queen Bee target drone. That machine required human input from a remote device.

Driverless tractors? Obviously many manufacturers have been working on it for longer than you may think.

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