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...

in conventional tillage systems, uniform depth tillage is applied over the entire field; however, the depth of hardpan layer varies greatly within the field. site-specific tillage, which modifies physical properties of soil only where the tillage is needed for crop growth, could achieve significant savings in fuel consumption and drawbar power requirements. site-specific tillage can be implemen...

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...

The use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) is a promising approach to control the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L.. We already demonstrated the high potential of EPN to infect larvae after leaving the cherry for pupation in the soil in laboratory and field experiments. For practice, an application technique is needed, that is both, growerand EPN friendly. We tested a tractor mounted spra...

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...

Lackas. G.M., Grisso, R.D., Yasin, M. and Bashford, L.L., 1991. Portable data acquisition system tbr measuring energy requirements of soil-engaging implements. Comput. Electron. Agric., 5: 285-296. A portable data acquisition system, using a laptop computer, was developed to monitor performancc of soil-engaging implements during field operation. The vertical and horizontal forces exerto:l by th...