Vulcan vs TOR laser weeder
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
US (Salinas, CA) tractor-drawn precision weeder using onboard cameras and computer vision to mechanically remove weeds in-row without herbicide. Original venture-backed maker FarmWise wound down independent operations on 1 April 2025 after raising $65M but failing to reach profitability; three days later, produce processor Taylor Farms (itself a prior FarmWise investor and long-time customer) acquired the FarmWise business outright to keep the Vulcan line running. As of mid-2026 Vulcan is still actively sold and field-supported — not discontinued — through an exclusive dealer partnership with RDO Equipment Co. across the Southwest US.
Best for: Large-scale US vegetable growers (multi-thousand-acre operations, the kind Taylor Farms and Barkley Farms run in Salinas/Yuma) who want to cut hand-weeding crew costs on lettuce, brassica, or tomato beds and can absorb a six-figure implement purchase plus annual service contract.First Dutch laser weeding robot, launched June 2025 by Trabotyx (Maarssen) — an autonomous GPS-RTK platform that kills weeds as small as 1 mm with blue diode lasers (adjustable to 200 W each, up to 6 lasers per machine), zero-till and chemical-free. Trained for nine vegetables (carrots, onions, lettuce, cabbage, herbs, spinach, beet, parsnip, chicory) and three flower-bulb crops (lilies, tulips, peonies), with under 2% crop hit rate. The TOR Flex works a 1.5 m width; production is capped at 10 machines for the 2026 season.
Best for: Dutch organic and low-input vegetable and flower-bulb growers who want chemical-free, zero-till in-row weed control — the laser removes weeds mechanical hoes miss without disturbing soil, and the vendor claims ~91% fewer weeds versus conventional practice.| Vulcan Verified 2026-07-19 | TOR laser weeder Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | AI-assisted | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United States | Netherlands |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-19 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Tractor-drawn, PTO-driven implement (not self-propelled) | Battery-electric with solar panel; swappable battery, ~10 h operation at standard weed density |
| Required tractor power | Not disclosed as an HP figure; compatible with standard Category II 3-point-hitch tractors, including John Deere 5-Series (V440 model) and 6-Series tractors | Is the vehicle (autonomous laser-weeding platform) |
| Dimensions | Single-bed working width 76-84 in (1.93-2.13 m); three-bed (V380/T380) working width reported as roughly 20-21 ft (6-6.4 m); four-bed V440 in 40 in bed spacing | Working width 1.5 m (TOR Flex); 1.8 m and 3.0 m versions announced |
| Weight | Not disclosed precisely by FarmWise; independent coverage puts the single-bed unit at roughly 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) and the three-bed unit at roughly 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed; documented deployments are on large multi-thousand-acre vegetable operations (e.g. a 10,000-acre Yuma, AZ/Salinas, CA grower), not smallholdings | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | 25+ acres/day, 3-4+ acres/hour per manufacturer spec sheet; a two-unit Taylor Farms fleet reported covering up to 100 acres in a single week | ~1.3 ha/day autonomous; ~1 ha per 18.5 h at 360 m/h at standard weed density |
| Max speed | 1.5-4 mph | 360–500 m/h working speed |
| Sensors | Multiple high-resolution, camera-equipped row units (18 cameras reported on the three-bed unit) plus custom LED lighting for all-lighting and night operation; onboard computer vision and deep-learning models for weed/crop differentiation | Camera AI crop/weed discrimination (crop hit rate <2% on trained crops) · GPS-RTK navigation |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ≈€555,000 (+ ≈€39,000/yr service) — indicative conversion only; Vulcan is not sold or priced in the EU | from €214,000 |
| Native price | US$645,000 MSRP for the flagship three-bed 80 in Vulcan V380, plus a reported ≈US$45,000/yr service & support package — trade-press reported figures (Farm Progress, The Packer), not published on the FarmWise site; single-bed and 68 in/40 in models are priced lower but not disclosed | from €214,000 (TOR Flex) + €14,980/yr service, support and maintenance |
| Business model | Direct purchase (not RaaS), sold and field-supported exclusively through RDO Equipment Co. dealers across the Southwestern US since a September 2024 exclusive partnership; John Deere Financing and AgDirect financing offered; FarmWise also runs a "try before you buy" trial program (a free 1-week trial, or paid extended 100/250/500-acre trials with credits toward purchase) | Direct sale by Trabotyx B.V.; maximum 10 machines available for the 2026 season; Dutch robotics subsidy rounds have applied |
| Ongoing cost | Reported ≈US$45,000/yr service & support package per unit (trade-press figure); consumable weeding-blade wear parts; software/AI model updates delivered via the onboard edge-learning system | €14,980 per year service, support and maintenance; battery cycling |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Weeding cost, large multi-region vegetable operation ≈US$550,000 reduction in weeding costs in a single season (customer-reported figure, cited by trade press at the time Taylor Farms was a FarmWise customer, before its 2025 acquisition of the company) · vendor | Weed pressure -91% · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found; all documented deployments and dealer/service coverage are US-only (Southwest US) | Dutch-built machine launched commercially June 2025; CE marking not independently verified |
| Machinery Regulation | Not applicable found — no EU placement on the market; would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if the Vulcan were ever sold into the EU | EU-built series product; conformity route under the EU machinery regime not published |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — US-based product with no EU sales presence, outside EU CAP eco-schemes | Chemical-free zero-till weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic goals; Dutch national robotics subsidies have covered TOR purchases |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.