Applications of empirical methods in central Italy for predicting field wheeled and tracked vehicle performance

Abstract Due to the agricultural field traffic and to the soil tillage implements, soil compaction has been recognised as a severe problem in mechanized agriculture and has an influence on many soil properties and processes. In this paper, empirical methods originally developed by the different Authors at Waterways Experiment Station (WES) for predicting the performance of off-road vehicles were applied on agricultural soil. The models considered and based on soil–vehicles interaction were: clay–tire rubber track numeric ( N c,r ), mobility index (MI), vehicle cone index (VCI), mean maximum pressure (MMP) and they included besides soil strength, the load carried by the tire or track, some technical characteristics of the tire or track of the vehicle, as well as the number of passes on the same track. These models have been validated with the tests results of a number of selected agricultural and forest vehicles over a range of soil in central Italy: Vertic Cambisol, Haplic Calcaric Cambisol and Eutric Cambisol. Significant correlations among the above indexes and among N c,r and two tire–track performance parameters: traction coefficient and traction efficiency, have been found. In addition a correlation between the measured cone index values during field tests, and the predicted cone index values have been developed. Through the field data collected and the elaboration and validation of the indexes it was possible to frame in a coherent way, the performance of agricultural machinery of different mass and power, running gear system (wheels, tires with low aspect ratio, metal and rubber tracks, self-propelled for the harvest, transport and distribution of agricultural products), even though particular interpretative shrewdness was necessary in the application of such formulas in the cases of innovative machinery as with the rubber track system. The vehicles that have obtained the higher values of N c,r (>20) have obtained the lowest values of both the MMP ( 1 4 Agricultural field traffic is an important aspect of soil management and such indexes, based on parameters that determine the impact of the agricultural mechanization on soil qualities, can usefully be considered in the management of the agricultural farm to reduce soil compaction due to both the traffic of machinery and to tillage implements particularly when considering the aspect of altered land use.

[1]  P. Servadio,et al.  Changes of some physical properties of a clay soil following passage of rubber- and metal-tracked tractors , 1998 .

[2]  Pauline Defossez,et al.  Modeling change in soil compaction due to agricultural traffic as function of soil water content , 2003 .

[3]  R. Earl.  Prediction of trafficability and workability from soil moisture deficit , 1997 .

[4]  Pauline Defossez,et al.  SoilFlex: A model for prediction of soil stresses and soil compaction due to agricultural field traffic including a synthesis of analytical approaches , 2007 .

[5]  Keith A. Smith,et al.  Soil analysis: physical methods. , 1991 .

[6]  R. Horn,et al.  Introduction to the special issue on experiences with the development and application of a new simulation model predicting the dynamics of agro-physical soil state for selection of management practices to prevent soil erosion (SIDASS project) , 2005 .

[7]  P. Servadio,et al.  Effects on some clay soil qualities following the passage of rubber-tracked and wheeled tractors in central italy , 2001 .

[8]  A. A. Mahboubi,et al.  Laboratory evaluation of a model for soil crumbling for prediction of the optimum soil water content for tillage , 2009 .

[9]  Ward B. Voorhees,et al.  Vehicle and wheel factors influencing soil compaction and crop response in different traffic regimes , 1988 .

[10]  Dirk Ansorge,et al.  The effect of tyres and a rubber track at high axle loads on soil compaction, Part 1 Single axle-studies , 2007 .

[11]  J. Deckers,et al.  World Reference Base for Soil Resources , 1998 .

[12]  Johan Arvidsson,et al.  Stress distribution and soil displacement under a rubber-tracked and a wheeled tractor during ploughing, both on-land and within furrows , 2002 .

[13]  B. D. Witney,et al.  The determination of plough draught—Part I. prediction from soil and meteorological data with cone index as the soil strength parameter , 1982 .

[14]  Per Schjønning,et al.  Subsoil compaction caused by heavy sugarbeet harvesters in southern Sweden; II. soil displacement during wheeling and model computations of compaction , 2001 .

[15]  P. Servadio,et al.  Compaction effects of rubber or metal-tracked tractor passes on agricultural soils. , 1996 .

[16]  R. Horn,et al.  Determination of pre-compression stress of a variously grazed steppe soil under static and cyclic loading , 2008 .

[17]  M. G. Bekker.  Introduction to Terrain-Vehicle Systems , 1969 .

[18]  Rainer Horn,et al.  Risk assessment of subsoil compaction for arable soils in Northwest Germany at farm scale , 2009 .

[19]  R. D. Wismer,et al.  Off-road traction prediction for wheeled vehicles , 1973 .

[20]  D. H. Rackham,et al.  The determination of plough draught—Part II the measurement and prediction of plough draught for two mouldboard shapes in three soil series , 1982 .

[21]  R. Lal,et al.  Tillage effects on soil properties at different levels of fertilizer application in Punjab, Pakistan , 2002 .

[22]  S. Pellegrini,et al.  Effects on some soil qualities in central Italy following the passage of four wheel drive tractor fitted with single and dual tires , 2005 .

[23]  Paul D. Ayers,et al.  Prediction of impacts of wheeled vehicles on terrain , 2007 .

[24]  Jo Yung Wong,et al.  Theory of ground vehicles , 1978 .

[25]  Beat Schäffer,et al.  Compaction of restored soil by heavy agricultural machinery—Soil physical and mechanical aspects , 2007 .

[26]  J. Lipiec,et al.  Hydraulic properties of soil aggregates as influenced by compaction. , 2009 .