![](images/Logos/Farm%20Progress%20Logo.jpg)
25
May
2023
By Chris
Torres
Could hydrogen power new ag machines?
![](images/images_06_19_2023/0522H-3722A-1800x1012%20copy.jpg)
SMALL AG PLAYER: Many Case IH machines made before 2010 are powered by
Cummins engines, but the company is a much smaller player in U.S. ag
these days. Its L9 engine powers Claas Trion combines, and its engines
power Versatile machines. COURTESY OF CUMMINS
When you look at tractors, combines and other big ag machines, you
will likely struggle to find machines powered by a Cummins engine.
That is, of course, unless you have a Case IH from before 2010
or have a new Claas Trion combine. But the company’s new head of
global ag business thinks it is prime time for the company to grow its
ag business.
“Ag is … a very high priority for Cummins,” says Phil Dawson,
who took over the company’s agriculture business earlier this year.
Dawson has been with Cummins for 14 years, mostly working in
the company’s off-highway business — primarily construction and
agriculture. He took over the company’s global ag business five months
ago.
Cummins engines once powered many Case IH machines, but that
partnership ended in the early 2010s. Today, it’s a much smaller
player in the U.S. ag machinery market. Its L9 engines power the Claas
Trion, and several of its other engines power tractors made by
Versatile.
Still, agriculture is a key growth sector for the company,
Dawson says, as it provides a more stable, less cyclical market than
some of the other markets the company is in.
“If we look at sort of Cummins as a whole, globally, we're
obviously more than a diesel engine manufacturer. We've invested
heavily in alternative technologies. And we're looking at markets that
give us sort of ongoing and consolidated diesel business, and markets
in which we think the adoption of other technologies are going to
confer. So, I think when we look at ag … we look at that as a market
that's probably going to give us … stable growth in clean diesel," he
says.
![](images/images_06_19_2023/Face%20copy.jpg)
NEW AG LEADER: Phil Dawson sees agriculture as a growing segment of
Cummins’
off-road business. He took over as the company’s new head of global ag a
few months ago.
Dawson estimates that about 1 million ag machines around the globe are
powered by Cummins engines among its nearly two-dozen OEM partners,
much of it outside tractors and combines. In South America, for
example, many sprayers are powered by Cummins engines.
Smaller OEMs in India, he says, also use Cummins engines.
"I think we've got a good cross section of business globally," Dawson
says. "I think if you look at the applications we power, they are sort
of across the market, tractors, combines, sort of specialty ag."
Bridge to electric
Diesel is still king when it comes to powering large ag machines and
will likely remain that way for some time.
But tougher emissions standards over the years have forced engine
manufacturers to make big changes to their products, and Cummins is no
different, Dawson says. The company is already gearing up for the next
step of off-road emissions standards — Tier 5 — which will likely be
rolled out by the end of the decade.
But Dawson says it is also gearing itself up for a post-diesel future.
A hydrogen derivative of its diesel engine, he says, is next in the
pipeline, and it is something he sees as a bridge to full
electrification.
"The benefits of … hydrogen internal combustion engine is that it
still provides a lot of commonalities for our OEMs," he says. "It's a
common powertrain design; it's very similar in the way it would be
installed into an application and typically operated. In terms of
performance characteristics, it's very similar to a diesel engine. So,
we think there is a future for hydrogen given the sort of power
density it provides, the serviceability, the machine integration and
sort of the similarities to diesel."
Earlier this year, the company rolled out Accelera, a new brand for
its alternative-energy business — including battery systems, fuel
cells, ePowertrain systems and electrolyzers.
As batteries get denser, they should, in theory, power larger
machines. But that technology, Dawson says, is still years away.
"I think the tech that's out there today, there's probably
insufficient power density for heavy-duty tractors, combines, for
example,” he says. “Things like the weight and the run time, the
required charging infrastructure, makes it difficult for certain
applications to operate on a farm. But maybe some of the sort of
lighter-duty tractors … 50 to 70 hp, that maybe operate closer to
where the grid is, is where it will be.”
The demand for more efficient, cleaner engines in ag machines is not
going away, and it is a space where Dawson thinks Cummins can compete.
"I guess what we see in ag, and it's a little bit generalized, but if
you look at the market globally, you have increase in population, you
have increase in consumption in that population, potentially less
arable land,” he says. “Then there is a drive and need in our customer
base, and potential customer base for more technology and efficiency,
and power. And I think that's where I think Cummins as a company, we
can be effective.”
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
509 995 1879 Cell,
Pacific Time Zone.
General office: 509-254
6854
4501 East Trent Ave.
Spokane, WA 99212
|