EENERGY CONSUMPTION AND SLIPPAGE OF AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR PULLING A ROTARY TILLER AND DISK PLOUGH

Abstract

Part of the energy generated by tractors is lost when slippage occurs. To improve the efficiency of traction certain mechanical components of the tractor may be used, such as the differential lock and front wheel assist, when present. When comparing tractors of the same model with and without TDA, there is a 33% increase in traction force and reduced slippage index, maintaining the same energy consumption between the two tractors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of front wheel assist and differential lock on the slippage and fuel consumption of a tractor based on two types of soil preparation. A completely randomized design was used with 2x2x2 factorial, consisting of: two equipment (rotary tilling and disc plowing), with or without front wheel assist activated and with or without the differential lock activated, along with four replications. To evaluate the level of slippage, an analog beat conter was used. Data was collected over a distance of 50m with the tractor operating in the different experimental modes. Fuel consumption of the tractor was measured with a flowmeter. The obtained data was submitted to the Tukey test at 5% significance. Slippage was greater when disc plowing and fuel consumption was greater in the case of Rotary tilling. Front wheel assists reduced slippage when using rotary tilling. The differential lock and front wheel assist did not reduce the rate of slippage, but negatively influenced fuel consumption.