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Tractors have a lot of functions on a farm — mowing, planting seeds and tilling soil, to name a few. For urban farms, like Soil Born Farms in Rancho Cordova, the farm’s smaller size necessitates the use of smaller, two-wheeled, gas-powered tractors hauled by hand, the size of a large lawn mower. These tractors can be heavy and awkward to use.
However, at Soil Born Farms, that’s not an issue they have to deal with anymore. At Soil Born, all they need is a modified RC car remote.
The farm recently acquired new remote controlled, electric tractors from the Santa Rosa-based company Renewables Inc. Tom Lyons, the Farm Manager at Soil Born, said that the upgraded tractors allow for easier accessibility.
“It’s a lot cleaner, a lot quieter and much more accessible,” Lyons said. “We [have] a lot of interns, younger folks, and this allows us to get them using the tractors, whereas our other machines are really big and clunky and loud.”
When tilling a field, farmers have to go row by row with the handheld tractors, lifting and turning these machines which can be more than 200 pounds. Their new tractors feature electric motors with instant torque on each wheel, allowing them to turn on a dime.
Renewable Farms' e2T electric tractor sits after having mown a field at Soil Born Farms on July 24, 2026.Ruth Finch/CapRadio“You get a pivot, a 360° turn, so this has been so much better on my back and my knees,” Lyons said. “Not having to lift and haul and twist our other machines into position.”
While there are other four-wheeled, riding electric tractors, Renewables, Inc. CEO Steve Heckeroth said that his tractors are not just the first remote-controlled two-wheeled tractors, but the first electric two-wheeled tractors altogether.
He said he started working on electric tractors after years of repairing gas tractors.
“I was dealer for these kind of tractors back in the 70s, and I really hated repairing gas engines, so I converted one of those in 1990,” Heckeroth said. “The batteries were too heavy at the time… I had to wait till we have these good lithium batteries that are five times the energy density, and they can do all the work that you need inside a day.”
Heckeroth also makes a harvesting seat for the tractor where workers can ride the tractor while they pick a crop. Soil Born Farms has one of these as well, outfitted with a solar panel that can hook directly into the tractor’s battery and charge it as it's used.
“You can sit in the shade and harvest crops,” Heckeroth said. “As long as the sun's out, you can run off the sun.”
According to Lyons, the elimination of gas-powered tractors aligns with their goal of regenerative farming, protecting the environment of their farm, and teaching others to do the same.
“We’re across the street from an ag academy, so we do a lot of education,” Lyons said. “Our effort with the farm is to teach people how to farm in a more sustainable fashion.”
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