Abstract
Soil tillage in conventional tillage systems is one of the most energy consuming processes. The paper deals with the influence of working width of mouldboard ploughs (mounted: 2. ×. 3, 2. ×. 5 and semi-mounted: 2. ×. 7) at the working depth of 25. cm and T-trailed cultivator (3 bars; row spacing: 27. cm; 18 tines; tine spacing; 27. cm, working width: 500. cm) at the working depth of 15 and 25. cm on field capacity, fuel consumption, slip and specific energy consumption. The experiments were conducted on the arable fields at the experimental farm Gross Enzersdorf (Lower Austria) of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna. For measuring of the vehicle and wheel speed (parameters for slip calculation), the tractors (4-WD 59. kW for 2. ×. 3 reversible plough and 4-WD 160. kW for 2. ×. 5 and 2. ×. 7 reversible plough and cultivator) were equipped with a radar and wheel hub sensor. The fuel consumption was measured for each trial volumetrically. The results show, that the technical field performance increases with the working width of the plough: 0.5. ha/h for 2. ×. 3, 1.9. ha/h for 2. ×. 5 and 2.3. ha/h for 2. ×. 7. The fuel consumption for 2. ×. 3 and 2. ×. 5 mouldboard plough is on the same level (20.3 and 20.5. l/ha) and decreases to 14.9 l/ha for 2. ×. 7. The high fuel consumption of 20.5. l/ha with 2. ×. 5 is explained by the luxury engine power in the 2. ×. 5 mouldboard plough-tractor combination. The increase of the working depth from 15. cm to 25. cm for the cultivator rises the fuel consumption by 70% and the slip by 265%, whereas the specific fuel consumption is on the same level. The Traction Control system in ploughs reduces fuel consumption between 10.0 and 11.5%. With increasing working width of the plough the potential of subsoil compaction is increasing, because of risen load of the rear furrow wheel. On-land ploughing is one technical solution to prevent subsoil compaction. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.