Strategy Guide: FarmVille Tractor
The introduction of the FarmVille tractor represents the first automated (or semi-automated) farming in FarmVille. Considering that many of us paid $40K for a barn that sits there and does nothing except take up X squares, the tractor is a veritable beauty bargain at $30K. It’s cute, it’s handsome, it looks great on a farm and it only takes up 1 x 2 squares. Best of all: it actually plows!
The tractor also functions, and will plow four plots at a time in a 2×2 patch very rapidly (see video tutorial). It will not, however, plow your whole farm. The tractor will only plow approximately 150 squares before running out of fuel. It is solar powered and will recharge from empty in six hours and 15 minutes.
NOTE: Buying two tractors will not get you two fuel tanks. Arguably it should, but it does not.
On 21 August, in the big land expansion release, Zynga also added the ability to buy fuel to re-charge your tractor. Tractor fuel can only be bought with FarmCash, meaning it requires real money. The fuel bought with FarmCash runs out at the same rate as regular solar fuel, making it not a very good buy.
This means that if you want your tractor to be functional without the need to buy fuel, there are two basic strategies to making the tractor work well for you.
ONE: The Aesthetic Farmer
If you plant a variety of crops with different growth times, the tractor will work very well for you with no need to buy fuel assuming your crops mature at least a few hours apart. You will rarely use all of your fuel, and time between refuelling will often be far less than six hours.
Having said that, if you’re only harvesting and plowing a small square of 9 or 12 plots every few hours, you may not get a huge benefit out of your tractor because for small crops, it isn’t vastly more time efficient.
TWO: The Power Farmer
If you are power levelling and plant, for example, 256 squares of sunflowers, then your most cost-efficient option for full use of your tractor is to stagger your crops so they mature in two phases at least six hours apart. You should be able to plow half your farm (128 squares) in each harvest, leaving more than enough time for complete refuelling.
The set 2×2 grid of the tractor’s footprint is actually ideal for power farmers. It allows you to plow through a tightly packed farm very rapidly with no overlap and no blank ground, making it extremely efficient if you are willing to stagger crop times.
Item: TRACTOR
- Price: $30K
- Colors: Red, pink
- Level: 12 or higher
- Capacity: 160 squares
- Refuelling: 6 hours and 15 minutes (or pay FarmCash for additional fuel.)
- Experience: 1 point per square plowed
Information Last Updated: 21 August, 2009
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August 21, 2009
sweet, they’re pretty cool but they should plow all fallow land in one go.
August 21, 2009
The tractor should plow your whole farm at one time. It is not fair you have to pay 30K for something and still have to hand plow your crops!!!!!!!!