Modeling, Analysis and Experimental Validation of Tractor System Architecture for on Field Efficiency Improvement While Conserving Environment 2016-01-8024

In search of higher productivity, farmers are taking more than two crops in a year. In this farming pattern they don’t have much time for field preparation due to which rear mounted plough have become longer and heavier, necessitating the use of additional front-end weights and assister rams on the hydraulic lift. As plough length increases, the evenness of working depth over the full length of the implement deteriorates. To complete the farm work in one or two passes by utilizing maximum tractor power in order to save the fuel as well as time. The usage of front hitch and front PTO system on tractor forms a gateway for farmers to control the traffic on farm fields which is responsible for the soil compaction and emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by reducing the number of passes in agricultural field operations. The present work evaluates tractor, which has a high penetration in rural India (20 tractors per 1000 hectares) as a techno-commercially feasible system solution for combination of implements and creation of single pass solution for many crops. The “Tractor" architecture has been redesigned, by adding front hitch and front PTO to the tractor front and evaluating alternate architecture and applications. A mathematical model has been developed and simulations have been made by considering operating constraints, to evaluate the efficiency of this solution among various solutions.