Steward vs Drever 120
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.Swedish electric autonomous tractor (120 hp) from Traktorarvid AB, a small Uppsala-area startup founded in 2018. Two swappable batteries let one work the field while the other charges on-farm (from solar or grid), and its lighter weight is pitched to cut soil compaction versus a comparable diesel tractor. Still pre-commercial — the manufacturer is building a pre-series run of 5 units through 2025-2026, with full series production not expected until 2027.
Best for: Buyers willing to engage as an early pilot/pre-series partner with a small Swedish startup — mainly large-scale cereal and row-crop operations interested in electric, driverless draft power and reduced soil compaction.| Steward Verified 2026-07-18 | Drever 120 Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Autonomous tractor | Autonomous tractor |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United States | Sweden |
| Availability | Available now | Pilot / limited |
| 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 | Battery-electric — two swappable batteries (one works the field while the other charges on-farm) |
| 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 | 120 hp equivalent, fully electric, driverless/autonomous |
| Dimensions | Not disclosed | Not disclosed; manufacturer states Drever is smaller than a comparable conventional tractor |
| Weight | Not disclosed | Not disclosed exact figure; manufacturer states approximately one-third the weight of a comparable conventional tractor |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed; manufacturer states Drever suits both small and large farms |
| 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 independently measured; manufacturer's design target, reported by Landbrugsavisen (2023), is 2-3 Drever units replacing one ~400 hp conventional tractor — a stated goal, not a deployed result |
| 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 | Custom-developed autonomous steering and GPS-based navigation with smartphone-app monitoring and alerts; detailed sensor suite (e.g. lidar, cameras) not disclosed in accessible sources |
| 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 | Pre-series/pilot phase, not yet for general sale. Manufacturer timeline — prototype 2 built 2024 (EIP-Agri co-funded), pre-series of 5 machines 2025-2026, full series production not expected until 2027. Interested farms can contact Traktorarvid AB directly (email/phone); no public order process or price list 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 — pre-series stage, no published running-cost or subscription figures. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Equipment capital investment (single-farm case study — Quint Pottinger, Kentucky) approximately 70% reduction in equipment capital investment · vendor | — No verified outcome |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not disclosed — no CE-marking evidence found; confirmed deployments are US/Canada only | Not confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found on the manufacturer's site or in press coverage; Drever 120 is still in prototype/pre-series phase and not yet placed on the general market. |
| Machinery Regulation | Not applicable — no evidence Steward has been placed on the EU market | Would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions once placed on the market; not yet confirmed for the pre-series units. |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — no EU/CAP-linked deployment found | Not directly tied to CAP eco-schemes; development has been EU co-financed via the EIP-Agri (European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture) programme. |
"—" 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.