Ride comfort for tractor operators

A survey of the undulation severity of agricultural surfaces is reported and a design for easily adjustable simulated surfaces proposed. These surfaces, although initially prepared for the measurement of ride vibration, may be used for performance investigations on other agricultural machinery. From a comparison with the measured ride performance of tractor seats over farm surfaces and assessment of performance from laboratory measurements of vibration transmissibility, the laboratory assessment is shown to be qualitatively useful. This assessment is however insufficiently reliable quantitatively to replace field tests of the seats on tractors.