Effect of Soil Moisture Content, Rear Wheel Weight and Rear Tires Inflation Pressure on Tractor Performance

Abstract

This study was conducted at the Top Farm of the University of Khartoum at Shambat in 2007, with the objective of studying the effect of three variables (soil moisture content (SMC), tractor rear wheels weight (RWW) and tractor rear tires pressure (RTP) on tractor performance parameters, namely tractor rear wheel slippage, depth of cut and tractor effective field capacity. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design. Results showed that slippage is significantly affected by the studied variables (P≤0.05). The lowest value of slippage (6.7%) was recorded on wet soil when tractor was operated by medium inflation pressure without added weight. Effective field capacity was affected by tractor rear tiers inflation (P≤0.05). The highest values of tractor effective field capacity were recorded when the tractor was operated at high rear tires pressure with added weight on dry soil. Depth of cut was not affected by the change in the three studied parameters.