Tractive and soil compaction performances of an agricultural tractor fitted with rubber tracks

The objective of this study was to compare the tractive and the soil compaction performances of a conventional wheeled tractor with the fully tracked version of the same model. The tested tractors were connected each other through a steel chain equipped with a load cell. The performances of the towing tractor were evaluated using the towed tractor as a brake, then the tractors were inverted in order to test both. The traction efficiency and the maximum draft force of the tractor were measured through the load cell and the tractor parameters acquired with a CAN logger. The soil compaction was evaluated through the analysis of soil bulk density and cone penetration test. The results show a reduced soil compaction for the tracked tractor with respect to the wheeled version despite of the increase of the tractor mass due to the four rubber tracks weight. Furthermore, the tractor equipped with rubber tracks showed an improvement of the traction efficiency, especially on low grip surfaces.