Diesel Engine Load Control with a Hydrostatic Transmission

The performance of an engine load control system which seeks to maintain a constant material feedrate to a self-propelled harvest machine was investigated. An adjustable load level was maintained on the engine by controlling the displacement of a pump in the hydrostatic transmission drive. Theoretical results descriptive of performance obtained with three different control algorithms are presented. A load control system with an adjustable grade compensation algorithm has been developed and applied to a large number of different harvest machines.