rtfcandlearntherules

rtfcandlearntherules t1_ja7nke0 wrote

Reply to comment by tanandblack in ELI5: Why does farming equipment require such low horsepower compared to your average car? by thetravelingsong

I mean the plow is behind the tractor ..?

Sure you might drive on it afterwards but from my experience a field is not a dry granular road surface like a gravel road. There's also way less traffic, the fields gets plowed frequently and sees almost no traffic. It also turns wet from rain and water and "moves" naturally.Completly different from a gravel road. On top of that the wiki article even recommends "plowing" the road to remove washboarding.

I am not saying that you are wrong because I am geniuenly interested to learn about this, i never thought about it before. But the arguments presented still have me sceptical. That being said the general idea you presented makes perfect sense, of course you'd want to "squish" the ground as little as possible with the tractor. I can understand that without any science.

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rtfcandlearntherules t1_ja751db wrote

Reply to comment by hedoeswhathewants in ELI5: Why does farming equipment require such low horsepower compared to your average car? by thetravelingsong

That's not the whole truth though, a lot of cars also need the speed, e.g. police and emergency vehicles.

The maximum speed limit is also higher than in the US in basically every country.

In Most European countries it's around 80 mph (130 km/h) and then there's Germany of course. For me as a German it is pure hell to go only 130 km/h on a straight road with no obstacles and low traffic. Feels super dangerous because you will get bored and "fall asleep" very fast. I guess that's how Americans manage to produce so many accidents on their highways despite the low speed.

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