Draft requirements of tillage equipment in the Western Australian wheatbelt
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
1-1988
Conference Title
Conference on Agricultural Engineering 1988: An Australasian Conference to Celebrate the Australian Bicentennial
Place of Publication
Barton, ACT
ISBN
0858254115
Keywords
Drills, Planting machinery, Harvesting, Wheat, Tillage, Equipment and supplies, Sandy soils
Disciplines
Other Mechanical Engineering | Soil Science
Abstract
Tractor and implement requirements are a major cost in cereal farming in Western Australia and can only be selected using accurate tillage machinery data. This project investigated the effect of depth and speed on the draft and estimated fuel consumption and tractor power required of several tillage implements over a range of soils.
All the tillage implements showed a linear increase in draft with depth and speed. Regression equations are given for a one-way disc plough, scarifier, combine, subsoiler, cultivator and a ‘cultivation depth modified’ combine. The one-way disc plough had the lowest draft and had the lowest increase in draft with speed on a sandy loam (14% clay) although it had a higher draft on a sandy clay loam (29% clay). The scarifier had the highest increase in draft with speed on both these soils.
Recommended Citation
Conference on Agricultural Engineering 1988: An Australasian Conference to Celebrate the Australian Bicentennial; Preprints of Papers, 1, 1, 1988, 137-141
