Effect of inflation pressure on tractive performance of bias-ply tires

This study was to investigate the effect of inflation pressure on the tractive performance of bias-ply tires for agricultural tractors. Traction tests were conducted at velocities of 3, 4, and 5.5 km h⁻¹ under four different surface conditions using a 13.6–28 6PR bias-ply tire as driving the wheel of the test tractor. When the inflation pressure was reduced from 250 to 40 kPa by a decrement of either 30 or 50 kPa depending upon the test surfaces, some of the test results showed that the traction coefficient and tractive efficiency were increased maximally by 14 and 6%, respectively, at 20% slip. However, such improvements in traction were not statistically consistent enough to find any rules regarding the effect of inflation pressure of bias ply tires on the tractive performance of tractors.     

Influence of the axle load, tyre size and configuration on the compaction of a freshly tilled clayey soil

Enhancement of the potential root growth volume is the main objective of farmers when they establish a conventional tillage system. Therefore, the main function of primary tillage is to increase soil’s structural macroporosity. In spite of this, during secondary tillage operations on these freshly tilled soils, the traffic on seedbeds causes significant increases in soil compaction. The aim of this paper was to quantify soil compaction induced by tractor traffic on a recently tilled non consolidated soil, to match ballast and tyre size on the tractors used during secondary tillage. The work was performed in the South of the Rolling Pampa region, Argentina. Secondary tillage traffic was simulated by one pass of a conventional 2WD tractor, using four configurations of bias-ply rear tyres: 18.4×34, 23.1×30, 18.4×38 and 18.4×38 duals, two ballast conditions were used in each configuration. Soil bulk density and cone index in a 0 to 600 mm profile were measured before and after traffic. Topsoil compaction increased as did ground pressure. Subsoil compaction increased as total axle load increased and was independent from ground pressure. At heavy conditions, topsoil levels always showed higher cone index values. From 150 to 450 mm depth, the same tendency was found, but with smaller increases in the cone index parameter, 22 to 48%, averaging 35%. Finally, at the deepest layer considered, 600 mm, differential increases due to the axle load are great enough as to be considered similar to those found in the upper horizon, 36 to 64%, averaging 55%. On the other hand, bulk density tended to be less responsive than cone index to the traffic treatments. Topsoil compaction can be reduced by matching conventional bias-ply tyres with an optimized axle weight.     

Traction performance evaluation of a 78-kW-class agricultural tractor using cone index map in a Korean paddy field

The cone index (CI), as an indicator of the soil strength, is closely related to the traction performance of tractors. This study evaluates the traction performance of a tractor in terms of the CI during tillage. To analyze the traction performance, a field site was selected and divided into grids, and the CI values at each grid were measured. The CI maps of the field sites were created using the measured CI. The traction performance was analyzed using the measured traction load. The traction performance was grouped at CI intervals of 400 kPa to classify it in terms of the CI. When the CI decreased, the engine speed and tractive efficiency (TE) decreased, while the engine torque, slip ratio, axle torque, traction force, and dynamic traction ratio (DTR) increased. Moreover, the DTR increased up to approximately 13%, and the TE decreased up to 9%. The maximum TE in the DTR range of 0.45–0.55 was higher than approximately 80% for CI values above 1500 kPa. The DTR and TE results obtained in terms of the CI can help efficiently design tractors considering the soil environmental conditions.     

Measurement of forces acting on 4WD-4WS tractor tires during steady-state circular turning on a paved road

Measuring method and measured results of vertical, longitudinal and lateral forces, which act on tires of a four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering (4WD-4WS) agricultural tractor, are presented in this paper as well as those of longitudinal and lateral slip of the tires. These results were measured during steady-state circular turning, in which a fixed steering wheel angle and a constant running speed were kept, on a paved road. The measurement was also done for a four-wheel drive and two-wheel steering (4WD-2WS) state, disconnecting a rear steering link and fixing the steering angles of the rear tires of the 4WD-4WS tractor to zero. Through the analysis of the results, some turning characteristics of the 4WD-4WS tractor were obtained. A tight corner braking phenomenon was clearly found in the case of 2WS. The 4WS system supplied more efficient turning than the 2WS system. Results obtained from the computer simulation agreed well with the experimental results except in the case of a low speed turn and as to thrusts of tires.     

Computer simulation of ballast management for agricultural tractors

The ballasting weights on farm tractors are rarely distributed optimally resulting in poor tractive efficiency and soil compaction. The need for a comprehensive and concise method to optimize farm tractor ballasting has initiated the development of user-friendly software that incorporates existing theoretical and empirical models. The Windows based software written in Visual Basic^© provides a collection of data entry panels associated with tractor, soil, tyres and implement. The software calculates the tractor performance parameters including the optimal ballasting on rear and front axles. Software results estimated ballast requirement within 88–96 percent of field data.     

The influence of tyres on the dynamic behaviour of a lawn mower

Agricultural tractors are used for on-road and off-road transport purposes, for supplying the necessary power during field operations and for controlling the mounted implements. Unfortunately, soil undulations induce tractor and machine vibrations, reducing driver's comfort and their capability of controlling the linked machinery. In this introductory study, the effect of some characteristics parameters, such as tyre pressure, and herewith related tyre stiffness, and mass addition on the dynamic behaviour and, more specifically, on the resonance frequencies of a lawn mower, are analysed by experimental modal analysis. After adapting the modal model, field unevenness instead of disturbance forces could be introduced as excitation inputs. A final validation of the adapted modal models shows good agreement with measured lawn mower vibrations.     

Tractive performance of a tread design for improved flexibility

The tractive performance of an 18.4R38 radial-ply tractor tire with increased flexibility in the tread area was compared to that of a standard tread design. Normal soil-tire interface stresses were measured at four locations on the lug surfaces of both tires operating on Decatur clay loam and Norfolk sandy loam soils. There was a tendency for the increased flexibility in the tread area to provide a higher net traction ratio at the same tractive efficiency as the standard tread design, especially on Decatur clay loam soil. The more flexible tread design reduced the magnitude of peak normal contact stresses across the tire width, which may have implications for reducing soil compaction without compromising tractive performance. The more flexible tire reduced the average normal contact stress by approximately 15% in the sandy loam soil and 23% in the clay loam soil for the range of operating conditions investigated.     

The tractive performance of a wide, low-pressure tyre compared with conventional tractor drive tyres

The NIAE single-wheel test vehicle was used to compare the tractive performance of a 67 × 34.00-25 tyre at 0.34 bar inflation pressure with that of 20.8–38 radial tyre at 0.6 bar inflation pressure and a similar 18.4–34 tyre at 0.8 bar inflation pressure. All tyres had similar tread patterns and were tested at the same vertical load of 2250 kg. The best performance was achieved by the 20.8–38 tyre. There was little difference in performance between the other two tyres. When compared with empirical predictions of performance derived from previous work, the two narrower tyres were found to perform approximately as predicted, but the performance of the wide, low-pressure tyre was considerably worse than predicted. This was thought to be due to bulldozing, because of the great width and increased wheel-slip caused by deformation of the soft side-wall and also due to the relatively short ground contact area. It was concluded that wide, low-pressure tyres are only suitable for fitting to vehicles requiring a very low draught capability.     

An empirical model for tractive performance of rubber-tracks in agricultural soils

Mathematical models capable of describing the interaction between traction devices and soils have been effective in predicting the performance of off-road vehicles. Such a model capable of predicting the performance of bias-ply tires in agricultural soils was first developed by Brixius [Brixius WW. Traction prediction equations for bias-ply tires. ASAE Paper No. 871622. St. Joseph, MI: ASAE; 1987]. When the soil and vehicle parameters are known, this model uses an iterative procedure to predict the tractive performance of a vehicle including pull, tractive efficiency, and motion resistance. Al-Hamad et al. [Al-Hamad SA, Grisso RD, Zoz FM, Von Bargen K. Tractor performance spreadsheet for radial tires. Comput Electron Agr 1994:10(1):45–62] modified the Brixius equations to predict the performance of radial tires. Zoz and Grisso [Zoz, FM, Grisso RD. Traction and tractor performance. ASAE Distinguished Lecture Series #27. St. Joseph, MI: ASAE; 2003] have demonstrated that the use of spreadsheet templates is more efficient than the original iterative procedure used to predict the performance of 2WD and 4WD/MFWD tractors. As tractors equipped with rubber-tracks are becoming popular, it is important that we have the capability to predict the performance for off-road vehicles equipped with rubber-tracks during agricultural operations. This paper discusses the development of an empirical model to accomplish this goal and its validity by comparing the predicted results with published experimental results.     

Development of a vehicle to study the tractive performance of integrated steering-drive systems

This paper describes a test-bed vehicle for studying the integration of the steering system of a wheeled vehicle with the drive system. The vehicle was produced in order to determine whether such an integrated system is practical; to investigate tractive performance compared to other steering-drive systems; and to determine under which conditions such a system has better performance. The integrated steering-drive system of the test-bed vehicle uses a computer to co-ordinate the independently driven wheel speeds of the drive system (which is also the primary steering system) with the steer angles of the non-driven steerable wheels to produce a beneficial secondary steering effect. The secondary steering system assists the primary steering system when side forces act on the vehicle, while producing minimal conflict. This concept can be applied to agricultural vehicles such as tractors, harvesters, mowers, sprayers and self-propelled windrowers. The test-bed vehicle is able to be configured for the following steering-drive systems types: open differential drive with steerable wheels, independent drive wheels with castors, locked differential drive with steerable wheels and a computer integrated steering-drive system. The capacity of the test-bed vehicle to be configured as described is a significant advantage when measuring tractive performance, as the results obtained will be more valid due to the vehicle parameters being the same.     

Matching tyre size to weight, speed and power available for maximising pulling ability of agricultural tractors

The desirable weight-to-axle power ratio for agricultural tractors is determined by the necessity for the optimum utilisation of the available axle power to produce the required drawbar pull at a preselected slip. For a vehicle designed to operate in a given speed range, the weight-to-axle power ratio should be within a particular limit, so that a specific level of conversion efficiency can be maintained. In this paper attempts have been made to select suitable tyres for Indian two-wheel drive tractors operating in sandy clay loam soils on the basis of weight-to-power utiisation and maximum pull-to-optimum weight ratio at a preselected slip using the developed traction prediction equations. A comparison has also been made between the desired and actual weight on a single traction wheel and suitable tyre and tyre normally fitted in Indian two wheel drive tractors up to 35 kW.     

Effects of tyre inflation pressure and forward speed on vibration of an unsuspended tractor

Relationships among intensity of vibrations, tractor speed, soil moisture content and tyre inflation pressure are important for the design of tractor suspension systems. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of tyre inflation pressure and forward speed on tractor vibration in the paddy fields of Southern China by using a two-wheel-drive unsuspended tractor with different combinations of forward speed, tyre inflation pressure and soil moisture content. During experiments, the vertical vibration accelerations in front and rear axles and triaxial vibration accelerations of the tractor body were measured using three accelerometers. Fourier analysis was applied to determine root mean square acceleration values in the low frequency range from 0.1 to 10 Hz. The results of the study indicate that tractor vibration is strongly affected by changing forward speed and tyre inflation pressure, and especially by changing forward speed and rear tyre inflation pressure. The research also shows the variation in the pattern of vibration intensity especially at the tractor’s front axle when field soil moisture content is changed.     

Automatic control system of a rear-wheel drive vehicle moving on a sloped weak sandy terrain

The general mechanism of tractive performance of a four-wheel vehicle with rear-wheel drive moving up and down a sloped sandy soil has been considered theoretically. For the given vehicle dimensions and terrain-wheel system constants, the relationships among the effective tractive or braking effort of the vehicle, the amount of sinkage of the front and rear wheels, and the slip ratio were analysed by simulation. The optimum eccentricity of the vehicle’s center of gravity and the optimum application height of the drawbar-pull for obtaining the largest value of maximum effective tractive or braking effort could be calculated by means of the analytical simulation program. For a 5.88 kN weight vehicle, it was found that the optimum eccentricity of the center of gravity e_opt was 1/6 for the range of slope angle—0βπ/24 rad during driving action of the rear wheel and e_opt was also 1/6 for the range of slope angle—π/24β0 rad during braking action of the rear wheel. The optimum application height H_opt was found to be 35 cm for the range of slope angle 0βπ/24 rad during driving action of the rear wheel and H_opt was 0 cm for the range of slope angle—π/24β0 rad during braking action of the rear wheel.     

An instrumentation system to measure the loads acting on the tractor PTO bearing during rotary tillage

Application of rotary tillage has been increased due to less tillage passes required, reduced draft, and greater efficiency through reduction in wheel slippage. Early failure of the bearing of tractor power take-off (PTO) shaft was observed in tractors of power range 30–35 horsepower during rotary tillage. An instrumentation setup involving an extended octagonal ring transducer (EORT) was developed and installed at the bottom of the bearing to measure the axial load and the vertical component of the radial load. The horizontal component of radial load was measured by strain gauges. Based on measured loads, the bearing life was assessed. Independent variables were: operating depth, number of blades, gear setting, engine speed, and tyre size. The average axial and radial loads varied from 786–3869 N, and 134–430 N, respectively. However, bearing experienced very high peak loads during each trial. The peak axial and radial loads was recorded between 1081–7534 N and 566–1794 N, respectively. The estimated bearing life based on peak loads was 171.98–28341.39 h. Based on the findings, it may be concluded that the average loads were not sufficient to cause quick failure of PTO bearing, rather sudden peak loads might be the root cause of early failure.     

Combined lateral and longitudinal forces on driven angled tractor tyres

With the single wheel tester of Hohenheim University, tractive and side forces have been measured on driven tractor tyres of different sizes on a hard stubble field and on a tilled field with higher moisture content. It was found that the lateral forces are diminished as the tractive forces increase. The maximum lateral force was at little negative tractive force, corresponding with small negative wheelslip.     

Axle torque distribution in 4WD tractors

Performance of a four-wheel drive (4WD) tractor can be optimized by controlling the power distribution between the front and near axles. This paper proposes an automatically controlled hitch system to adjust the vertical force on each axle and thereby control the axle torques. Factors affecting the functional relationship between axle torque ratio and hitch position were examined experimentally using a scale model 4WD tractor. The relationship between axle torque and hitch position was affected by the initial static weight distribution, the vertical and horizontal drawbar loads and traction or soil conditions. Traction efficiency was not affected by the axle torque ratio.     

UPM indoor tyre traction testing facility

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) tyre traction testing facility was designed and developed to spearhead fundamental research on traction mechanics with high-lug agricultural tyres on tropical soils. This available facility consists of a moving carriage with a cantilever-mounted tyre that moves in either forward or reverse directions on rails well above a soil tank. The present facility set-up was able to operate in either: (a) towing test mode for tyre motion resistance studies, or (b) driving test mode for tyre net traction and tractive efficiency studies. The test tyre on the moving carriage under the towing test mode was made to rotate and engage onto the soil surface in the tank through a chain drive system. Under the driving test mode, the test tyre on the moving carriage was powered to rotate by a motor and a gearbox system with an additional pull provided by a cable-pulley mechanism connected to a tower with hanging dead weights. All controls on the moving carriage were activated from the main control console. Respective transducers were positioned at various localities within and interfaced to a data acquisition system to measure tyre horizontal and vertical forces, tyre sinkage, tyre speed and motion carriage speed. The data acquisition system was able to receive the measured signals in real time, display on the monitor screen and record into its CPU storage memory. Static calibration tests on various associated transducers showed excellent linearity with coefficients of determination (r²) of close to 1. The developed facility was successfully tested to determine motion resistance and net traction ratios for high-lug agricultural tyre at the recommended inflation pressure on sandy clay loam soil.     

Development of a tracked vehicle to study the influence of vehicle parameters on tractive performance in soft terrain

This paper describes a new special tracked vehicle for use in studying the influence of different vehicle parameters on mobility in soft terrain; particularly muskegg and deep snow. A field test in deep snow was carried out to investigate the influence of nominal ground pressure on tractive performance of the vehicle. The vehicle proved useful for studying vehicle parameters influencing the tractive performance of tracked vehicles. The tests show that the nominal ground pressure has a significant effect on the tractive performance of tracked vehicles in deep snow. The decrease in drawbar pull coefficient when the nominal ground pressure is increased and originates at about the same amount from a decrease of the vehicle thrust coefficient, an increase of the belly drag coefficient and an increase of the track motion resistance coefficient.     

Modeling and validation of hitch loading effects on tractor yaw dynamics

This paper develops a yaw dynamic model for a farm tractor with a hitched implement, which can be used to understand the effect of tractor handling characteristics for design applications and for new automated steering control systems. Dynamic equations which use a tire-like model to capture the characteristics of the implement are found to adequately describe the tractor implement yaw dynamics. This model is termed the “3-wheeled” Bicycle Model since it uses an additional wheel (from the traditional bicycle model used to capture lateral dynamics of passenger vehicles) to account for the implement forces. The model only includes effects of lateral forces as it neglects differential longitudinal or draft forces between inner and outer sides of the vehicle. Experiments are taken to verify the hitch model using a three-dimensional force dynamometer. This data shows the implement forces are indeed proportional to lateral velocity and that differential draft forces can be neglected as derived in the “3-wheeled” Bicycle Model. Steady state and dynamic steering data are used for implements at varying depths and speeds to quantify the variation in the hitch loading. The dynamic data is used to form empirical transfer function estimates (ETFEs) of the implements and depths in order to determine the coefficients used in the “3-wheeled” Bicycle Model. Changes in a single parameter, called the hitch cornering stiffness, can capture the various implement configurations. Finally, a model that includes front wheel drive forces is derived. Experiments are taken which provide a preliminary look into the effect of four-wheel drive traction forces, and show a difference with two-wheel versus four-wheel drive, on the yaw dynamics of a tractor with the hitched implement.     

Characteristics of farm field profiles as sources of tractor vibration

To evaluate farm field profiles as sources of tractor vibration, profiles of meadows, roads and rough terrains were measured and analyzed. A slope angle measuring apparatus with a vertical gyroscope was made to measure profiles using the slope integration method. Periodic uneveness was not found in the measured profiles: therefore it may be assumed that profiles of farm fields, except plowed fields and fields with furrows, are random and non-periodic. Power spectral densities (0.05–3.0 cycles/m) of measured profiles could be approximated by a straight line on a log-log paper. The mean value of spectral slope (2,3) was steeper than that of the recommended value by ISO/TC108/SC2. However, it is suggested that the classification by ISO may be useful to select the profiles of test tracks for the vibration test of tractors and the durability test of tractors and implements. Then the coherency functions were calculated to investigate the correlation between two parallel tracks spaced for the tread width of tractor (1.5m), and the value of coherency functions were small beyond 0.2 cycles/m of spatial frequency. Therefore it is surmised that profiles of paths of tractor wheels are independent.