TECHNICAL NOTES: A TRACTOR-MOUNTED MULTIPLE-PROBE SOIL CONE PENETROMETER

Determining soil compaction profiles requires fast sampling systems due to changing moisture conditions with time. Soil cone penetrometers are commonly used for this purpose, but acquiring the many readings required due to spatial and data variability can take long periods of time. A multiple-probe soil cone penetrometer was constructed and tested for the purpose of measuring cone index values throughout the entire soil profile from trafficked middle across a crop row to untrafficked middle. This machine has been successfully used in numerous studies and offers the capability of obtaining soil strength information throughout an entire field in relatively short periods of time.