Agricultural production has clearly benefited from the development of the tractor. The tractor provides a traction device and mobile power source. However, operating large equipment with high clearance on uneven ground leads to stability and overturn issues. Around the world, tractor overturns are still a leading cause of agricultural production fatalities. This special issue of the Journal of ...

The aim of this paper and its sequel is to introduce and classify the holonomy algebras of the projective Tractor connection. After a brief historical background, this paper presents and analyses the projective Cartan and Tractor connections, the various structures they can preserve, and their geometric interpretations. Preserved subbundles of the Tractor bundle generate foliations with Ricci-f...

Between 1920 and 1939 a nearly six-fold increase occurred in the number of tractors on American farms, from 246,000 tractors in 1920 to 1,445,000 tractors in 1939 [5]. This substantial growth in tractor usage occurred during a period where the role of the tractor in agricultural production was changing. In 1920, the tractor was primarily viewed as the supplier of the peak power needs in spring ...

Introduction Direct energy expenses (diesel, gasoline, propane, electricity) total more than $1 billion annually for Iowa’s farmers. Day-to-day farm management techniques such as adjusting tractor gear and throttle settings, making use of front-wheel-drive, and other strategies can reduce diesel fuel consumption for row crop production and general tractor operations. This study is being conduct...

Introduction Direct energy expenses (diesel, gasoline, propane, electricity) total more than $1 billion annually for Iowa’s farmers. Day-to-day farm management techniques such as adjusting tractor gear and throttle settings, reducing tillage depths, and monitoring tractor tire inflation pressures can reduce diesel fuel consumption for row crop production. This study is being conducted over mult...

The aim of this paper and its sequel is to introduce and classify the holonomy algebras of the projective Tractor connection. After a brief historical background, this paper presents and analyses the projective Cartan and Tractor connections, the various structures they can preserve, and their geometric interpretations. Preserved subbundles of the Tractor bundle generate foliations with Ricci-f...

Error is always present in the GPS guidance of a tractor along a desired trajectory. One way to reduce GPS guidance error is by improving the tractor positioning. The most commonly used ways to do this are either by employing more precise GPS receivers and differential corrections or by employing GPS together with some other local positioning systems such as electronic compasses or Inertial Nav...

Within a continuous development of mobile agricultural machinery the application and further introduction of electronic controls is offering the fare most potential for working processes optimization. The article gives an introduction to tractor and implement controls, especially targeting implement guided tractor control, underlined with two executed examples for this advanced control design. ...

We describe the development of the Safe Tractor Assessment and Rating System (STARS), a design-based tractor safety rating system that can be applied to new or used tractors to provide an objective assessment of their inherent safety features. A predictive rating system model, based on technical inspection, was used. Key principles underlying the system included the potential for design feature...

Timber transport in the forest is a very complex operation, and expensive from an energy point of view. Furthermore, in some cases, this operation can be very difficult and dangerous in unfavorable conditions of the road surface, which mainly occur in winter (frozen ground) and in spring (muddy ground). The goal of this study was to develop an innovative transmission hydraulic control system fo...