Tractive Performance and Fuel Consumption of a 2-Wheel Drive Tractor

A two-wheel drive tractor's tractive performance and fuel consumption were evaluated. A tractor was instrumented and used as the data collection device. A data acquisition system was used with an on-board computer for data storage.

Tractive performance experiments were conducted using a load unit. Tractive parameters were defined for six different soil surfaces. In a separate experiment and using the same tractor, fuel consumption was recorded during a tillage operation in a soft sand.

The tractive efficiency of a tractor, while pulling implements in normal field conditions, was close to the maximum tractive efficiency attainable on the soils tested. A model to predict the fuel consumption of a tractor from the draft requirements and tractive conditions was developed and an application demonstrated.