Abstract
A new tractor prototype suitable to be used in extreme slope conditions of hilly and mountain areas is here proposed and described. It was primarily designed to address the problem of working in vineyards trained with the so-called "pergola" system, that has a long tradition in South Tyrol and it is still very common in the mountain sides of this Province, being the most suitable training system required by the typical vine cultivars here cultivated ('Lagrein' and 'uva schiava'). "Pergola" is even well suited to the terrains cultivated through terracing methods, that permit to extend farming practices until 130% of slopes. Anyhow, its use involves many mechanization problems mainly due to need to face with limited transit widths and heights (smaller 1.10 and smaller 1.70 m, respectively) available below the pergola itself and to the presence of steep and very narrow-angle curves in the row heads, with great difficulties of manoeuvre. The prototype here presented was designed and constructed by a local machine constructor under the suggestions of a team of farmers wishing to find viable solutions to overcome the above problems. This is based on an unconventional design concept: it looks like a tool-carrier 20 kW power rated tractor formed by an articulated body and fully driven by hydraulic transmissions. It was tested both on laboratory, for a general characterization of its features according to official OCSE measures, and in field for a comparative evaluation of its performances with the traditional equipment commonly applied in the same environmental conditions.