Steward vs Oxin
Two autonomous tractor machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
US aftermarket kit (proprietary control unit + dual-GNSS + cameras/obstacle sensors) that converts existing 80-150hp tractors — John Deere 5E/5M/6E, Kubota M5 and Fendt 700-series (Deutz-Fahr in development) — into autonomous units for mowing, seeding, tillage, rolling, hay cutting and (via a Verdant Robotics partnership) precision spray. Installed in roughly a day (press reports range from a few hours to two days) with a five-minute calibration; sold through Trimble's Vantage dealer network in the US and Canada, with roughly 300 systems operational as of mid-2026. A July 2026 oversubscribed Series B led by Leaps by Bayer, with Yara participating, is funding expansion.
Best for: US/Canadian row-crop, broad-acre and sod/turf operations with an existing fleet of compatible 80-150hp tractors who want autonomy without buying new large-horsepower machines — Sabanto pitches "gangs" of several sub-150hp tractors as a lower-capital alternative to one big autonomous unit.New Zealand-built (Blenheim, Marlborough) fully autonomous, multi-tasking tracked tractor for vineyards and orchards — one machine combines mowing, mulching, trimming, defoliation, desuckering, skirting and weed/canopy spraying (towing 4,000+ L of spray product) in a single row pass, planned and monitored remotely by one operator via tablet, who can oversee multiple units at once. Now in its fourth generation, with roughly 19-21 machines built and in commercial service across two regions of New Zealand as of the most recent public figures (2023-2025 press). International reach is still early — the first export unit is running an ongoing Australian vineyard trial (Duxton Vineyards, Sunraysia, since Feb 2024; almond/citrus orchard use has also been reported separately), and Pellenc America became the US distribution/service/support partner after 2024 demonstrations — but no EU presence, CE marking, or public pricing were found.
Best for: Larger commercial New Zealand vineyard operations able to buy direct from Smart Machine, or US operations reachable through Pellenc America — buyers who want one autonomous machine to replace several separate tractor passes for routine canopy and floor-management work.| Steward Verified 2026-07-18 | Oxin Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Autonomous tractor | Autonomous tractor |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United States | New Zealand |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-18 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Retrofit kit powered by the host tractor's own diesel powertrain — no dedicated power source of its own | Diesel — 135 HP engine, 220 L/min hydraulic flow |
| Required tractor power | Aftermarket retrofit centred on 80-150hp tractors; compatible models include John Deere 5E (5075E, 5085E, 5090E, 5100E), 5M (5090M, 5095M, 5100M, 5105M, 5115M, 5120M, 5130M) and 6E (6105E, 6120E, 6135E cab-only) series, Kubota M5 (M5-091, M5-111), and Fendt 700-series (model year 2022+); Deutz-Fahr support is in development. Requires an electronic shuttle (PowrReverser) and factory grill guard on the host tractor | Not required (self-propelled; own 135 HP diesel engine) |
| Dimensions | Not disclosed | 3.8 m long × 1.65 m wide × 2.3 m high; 6.5 m minimum turning radius (rubber-tracked, capable of pivot turns) |
| Weight | Not disclosed | Not disclosed by Smart Machine — a 2023 founder interview stated ~4.5 tonnes, while a third-party aggregator lists 1,200-3,200 kg (conflicting, neither manufacturer-published) |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Roughly 300 systems operational across North America as of mid-2026 (Farmers Weekly); one large customer runs 25 units simultaneously (AgFunderNews); sod-farm customer Super-Sod runs 11 units across the southeastern US (Trimble customer story) | Not disclosed (vendor states 24/7 operation capability and testing across 3,000+ ha in NZ/Australia, but no ha/day or ha/season figure published) |
| Max speed | Up to 13 km/h in autonomous mode | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Trimble BX992 dual-GNSS receiver for heading determination with Trimble CenterPoint RTX correction — sub-4cm guidance accuracy maintained under partial tree canopy; cameras and obstacle-detection sensors; onboard AI processing unit; cellular connection to the cloud | Onboard navigation and safety sensors for autonomous operation; live data/video capture and streaming (specific sensor models not disclosed) |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ≈€55,000 upfront, ≈€8,500/yr (indicative conversion — no direct EU pricing published) | Not disclosed |
| Native price | US$65,000 equipment + installation, plus a US$10,000 annual subscription (Farmers Weekly-reported dealer pricing, 2026) | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Buy the retrofit kit outright through Sabanto's dealer network (Trimble Vantage dealers in the US/Canada, e.g. Vanderloop Equipment for Fendt); requires a mandatory annual subscription for guidance/software | Sale — Smart Machine builds and sells Oxin units (21 built per a 2023 Waterford Press interview); in the US, Pellenc America is the exclusive distribution, service and support partner following 2024 demonstrations. Company was in a seed funding round (~NZ$5M valuation, Callaghan Innovation R&D support, Pernod Ricard as an early R&D partner/investor) per 2023-2024 press; no public unit pricing found. |
| Ongoing cost | US$10,000/year subscription covering guidance service and software updates (Farmers Weekly-reported dealer pricing); individual low-cost sensors can disable the system if damaged ("it only takes one US$20 sensor to put a tractor out of action" — Farmers Weekly) | Not disclosed — no public service/subscription cost information found |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Equipment capital investment (single-farm case study — Quint Pottinger, Kentucky) approximately 70% reduction in equipment capital investment · vendor | Vineyard maintenance passes per row Single autonomous pass combining multiple tasks (e.g. mowing, mulching, trimming, spraying) in one row pass · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not disclosed — no CE-marking evidence found; confirmed deployments are US/Canada only | Not confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found; not placed on the EU market |
| Machinery Regulation | Not applicable — no evidence Steward has been placed on the EU market | Not placed on the EU market; would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if commercialised in the EU |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — no EU/CAP-linked deployment found | Not applicable — not sold in the EU; no CAP/eco-scheme relevance found |
"—" 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.