Stardew Valley Tractor Mod Guide

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Tallis is a content writer and expert Sdew HQ resident. He enjoys playing RPGs, and one of his favorite games is Stardew Valley. He enjoys exploring the world and uncovering every secret or hidden lore. He dedicates his time to master the playthrough of the Stardew Valley World. Aside from Stardew Valley, he also plays Witcher 3, Bloodborne, and Fire Emblem.

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Whether this is your first playthrough of Stardew Valley or your sixtieth, modding Stardew is incredibly tempting. Modding your games can create an entirely new experience, and the Stardew Valley Tractor Mod introduces Pelican Town to the wonders of modern farming.

You no longer have to spend hours breaking branches and rocks, tilling the lands, planting seeds, watering, and even picking your crops. The Tractor Mod makes taking care of your farm a breeze, allowing you to spend your time pestering Pam and wooing Abigail in the later game.

My Bottom Line Up Front: Why Get a Tractor?

The Tractor Mod is perfect for new players or experienced players. It makes taking care of your farm easier and makes cleaning up after the season changes less tedious, especially if you customize your settings. I highly recommend raising your working distance and speed.

The Basics

What is the Tractor Mod exactly? Well, it’s just that: a tractor. Compatible with Stardew Valley 1.5.5 and later available on Linux, Windows, and Mac, the tractor mod is easily obtained from Robin’s shop.

How to Download

You need to download the mod through Nexus Mods to obtain your tractor. As a SMAPI mod, all you need to install your tractor is SMAPI – Stardew Valley Modding API. If this is your first time downloading and installing a Stardew Valley Mod, don’t sweat it – modding Stardew is easy. See the FAQ below for more instructions.

Default Features

The tractor has a steep price, making it a late-game item. While it may be unobtainable for players in the early game without the use of cheats, it’s certainly worth it.

Clearing your farm after each season, whether it is early game or late game, can be a pain, and when you can finally get the tractor, setting your farm up each season is a breeze. Of course, you could always opt for a Golden Clock, but who has the gold for that? I certainly don’t.

After getting your tractor, it is essential to understand the default settings, how to use your tractor, and customize your tractor mod.

The default abilities of your tractor mod allow you to break sticks and weeds when holding your ax; cut down weeds, grass, and plants when holding your scythe; break rocks, weeds, and un-till dirt when holding your pickaxe, till the ground when holding your hoe, and finally, plant seeds when holding the packets.

The default distance is set to one space around your entire tractor, though this is easily changed.

Put Things Back

After you build your tractor, you can leave it anywhere on your farm or in town, but it won’t return in the morning as a horse would. You need to return it to the garage before you go to bed or pass out or risk losing your tractor, especially if you play on Stardew Valley Expanded as I do.

If you shut your game down before sleeping or putting your tractor back, you can also risk losing it, considering that when you return to the title, it resets the map of the valley.

Customizing Your Tractor

If the late game is too far away to achieve the tractor of your dreams, it’s easy to configure your file to get it in the early game. If desired, you can also change the radius of your tractor and its speed.

To begin customizing your tractor mod, you must enter the mod file and find the config.json file. Edit your config.json file and rename it to config.txt. A popup may show up, telling you that the file may become unusable if you go through with the edit. Click accept, and it will automatically convert your .json file to a .txt file.

Please note that because I use a Windows computer, when I discuss how to customize your tractor, the image is from Windows. When you open up the .txt file, you’ll see a slew of code similar to the below image.

It might be intimidating, but when you look at each section, it starts to become self-explanatory. At the top of each bracketed section is the tool’s name. Underneath that is what the tool can do if it can perform that function on your tractor. Your abilities when riding are decided through a true or false statement.

If you change this true or false statement, you can determine what you want to do with your tractor. If you want to be able to cut down tree saplings, which is ‘false’ as the default, you need to change the line “CutTreeSaplings”: false, to “CutTreeSaplings”: true,. Take care not to delete anything else in the process.

You can make it cheaper to build your tractor by changing the build price and the materials required. Turn your attention to the first bracketed section. “BuildPrice”: indicates how much your tractor costs. If 150000 is a bit too steep for your wallet, as it usually is in the early game, you need to lower that number, even going down to a single gold.

It can become a bit more complicated in the “BuildMaterials”: section. If you are not familiar with the Stardew Valley code, each item has an Item ID. For example, 335 is an iron bar, 337 is an iridium bar, and 787 is a battery pack.

Next to each of these numbers, after the colon, is the quantity required to build your tractor. It becomes a bit more complicated when it comes to changing the items needed. I recommend looking at a list of the item IDs and advancing from there.

If you want to change the radius in which your tools will work around your tractor, you need to change the number next to “Distance”:, found in the same bracketed section as the price and materials.

With the default set to 1, the only place to go is up. Unless you have a monster of a computer, it is essential not to put this default too high, or you may end up freezing and crashing your game. The same goes for raising your tractor speed from -2 upward.

When finishing your config file, you must convert it back into a .json file. To do this, I recommend using a .json converter. I used the vertopal converter for my file. All you need to do is choose the file and download it. After the website has successfully converted it, replace your config.txt file with your new config.json file.

If you ever want or need to edit your config file again, repeat the above steps. Relaunch the game with your new configured file, and you will be all set to play with your newly customized tractor! This mod makes farming a breeze, and if you up the speed, it ends up being an amusing replacement for your horse! Just make sure to get it back in the garage before you go to bed!

FAQs

Question: How Do I Install a Mod?

Answer: Whether you play Stardew on Mac, Linux, or Windows, the instructions to download are simple. Once you’ve downloaded SMAPI from the provided link, you need to extract the .zip file. It doesn’t matter where you extract it for this step, so long as it’s not your game folder. Open the newly unzipped folder and launch the ‘install’ option for your operating system.

Windows

For Windows, you only need to follow the on-screen instructions and then configure it to your game client. This step is crucial if you are configuring your game to play on Steam and want to track your in-game time and achievements. When in the SMAPI installer window, you will see:

SMAPI is installed! If you use Steam, set your launch options to enable achievements (see smapi.io/install): “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley\StardewModdingAPI.exe” %command%

You must copy everything from the quotation marks to the last % sign on the command. I have supplied what most players will see, but make sure you copy it directly from the SMAPI install window, just in case. You need to launch Steam and go to the game launch page for Stardew. Click on the gear, and in the drop-down menu, select properties.

Under launch options, you only need to paste the line of code, and you’re all set to play. Launch the game with SMAPI installed to ensure that a mod folder is created.

Download the Tractor Mod and unzip the folder contents into your Stardew Valley mod folder through the Nexus Mods link. Launch your game, and you should have your new tractor ready to go!

Mac

For Mac, you only need to launch the “Mac.command” option. Launch your game once, and it will create a mod folder within your game files. Through the Nexus Mods link previously provided, download the Tractor Mod and unzip the folder contents into your Stardew Valley mod folder. Launch your game, and you’re all set!

Linux

You need to extract the .zip file somewhere other than your game folder for a Linux installation. Run the installer on the Linux.sh file and follow the on-screen instructions. If you’ve installed Steam through Flatpak, you need to change the game’s default location. To do so, launch Steam and go to Steam>Settings>Downloads.

You can download the Tractor Mod through the provided Nexus link and unzip it into your mods folder. From there, launch Stardew Valley to create your mod folder. Next time you launch the game, you should have the tractor ready to be built through Robin’s shop.

Question: Why Isn’t My Mod Working?!

Answer: It’s more than likely that your mod is outdated. In the SMAPI launch window, just before your game, SMAPI should tell you if the mod needs to be updated. Or, in the bright red text before the list of mods you have installed, SMAPI will let you know if it hasn’t been installed and what the problem is. Is it still not working? The best way to problem shoot is to read up on if your mod conflicts with another mod.

Question: What Platform Can I Use This Mod?

Answer: Any platform where you can mod Stardew Valley! I have the Tractor Mod on both my PC and my phone, though you should note that the Tractor Mod was specifically created for PC. This guide has been designed to focus on computer gaming, however. However, it is essential to note that the modding process for phones and consoles is very different from computer modding.

Returning to the Shed

Whenever I play Stardew Valley, the Tractor Mod is an absolute must-have. I hope that this mod has helped you figure out how to download and customize your tractor so you can zip around the valley and show Pam that you’re a better driver than she could ever be. You can finally modernize Stardew valley and plant a massive farm rather than a garden.

If you choose to download the Tractor Mod, make sure to endorse it, as it boosts the mod and supports the creator. You can also donate directly to the creator to support them and their work, as most modders do their work for free so we can enjoy our tractors.