LECTURE 7

EARTH MOVING MACHINERY

FMP 514, 2(1-1)
 Terminologies
• Tillage:
“ It is defined as mechanical manipulation of soil.” But most suitable is; “Tillage is
‘applying forces’ rather than in terms of the reasons for which the forces are applied.”
• Draft:
“Horizontal component of pull, parallel to the line of motion” OR Force required to
pull tillage tool through soil.
• Hitch:
Draft force is located where tillage tool is attached to the power source called hitch.
• Specific draft:
“It may be defined as draft per unit area of tilled cross-section.”
• Traction:
“Force derived from the soil to pull a load.”
This force is exerted against the soil by a traction device like wheel, track etc
 Field Capacity and Efficiency
• Field capacity:
• Field capacity refers to the amount of processing that a machine can accomplish per
hour of time and was first calculated by McKibben (1930). Field capacity can be
expressed on a material or area basis. On an area basis, the field capacity is:

• On a material basis, the field capacity is:

• where Ca = field capacity, area basis, ha/h (Cat when ηf = 1.0)
• Cm = field capacity, material basis, Mg/h (Cmt when ηf = 1.0)
• v = travel speed, km/h
• w = machine working width, m
• Y = crop yield, Mg/ha
• ηf = field efficiency, decimal
 Field Capacity and Efficiency
The term theoretical field capacity is used to describe the field capacity when the field
efficiency is equal to 1.0, i.e., theoretical field capacity is achieved when the machine is using
100% of its width without interruption for turns or other idle time.
For cultivators and other machines that work in rows, the machine working width is equal
to the row spacing times the number of rows processed in each pass. An operator with perfect
steering skills would be required to use the full width of mowers and other machines that do not
work in rows. Since operators are not perfect, less than the full width of such machines is used in
order to ensure coverage of the entire land area, i.e., there is some overlapping of coverage.
The travel speed of balers, forage choppers, and other machines that process a product
may be limited by the Cmt, i.e., by the theoretical field capacity of the machine on a materials
handling basis. For a given Cmt, W, and Y, Equation 2 could be used with ηf =1.0 to find the
allowable forward speed. Equation 2 is not relevant to machines that do not process a product,
e.g., tillage machines; the speed of such machines is limited by one or more other factors,
including available power, quality of the work accomplished, safety, etc. Typical operating
speeds for various machines are listed in Table 1.
Field Capacity and Efficiency
 Field Capacity and Efficiency
• Field efficiency:
•
The theoretical time, τt, required to perform a given field operation varies inversely with the
theoretical field capacity and can be calculated using the following equation:

• The actual time required to perform the operation will be increased due to overlap, time
required for turning on the ends of the field, time required for loading or unloading materials,
etc. Such time losses lower the field efficiency below 100%. The following equation can be
used to calculate the field efficiency.
 Field Capacity and Efficiency
• Field efficiency:
•

• τa and τh represent the two extremes for types of time losses and some losses may fall between these extremes.
Examples of τa-type losses include unclogging of spray nozzles, adding filling fertilizer or seed boxes, or filling
spray tanks. For a given yield, time spent in unloading harvested crop is proportional to area but unloading time
also increases with yield. Many τh-type losses are proportional to effective operating time, τe; these include rest
stops, adjusting equipment, and idle travel at field ends if such travel is at normal operating speed. Field shape can
have an important effect on τh, i.e., τh will be much smaller relative to τe if the field is long and narrow. Then the
machine will make fewer turns at the end for a given field area. Time required to move a machine to or from a
field is not included in field efficiency calculations; else the field efficiency would vary widely depending upon
distance between fields and distance from the machine storage site.
Field Capacity and Efficiency
 Measuring draft of implements
Draft and power requirements are in important in selecting tractors and implements because tractors must
be large enough to meet the implement draft requirements. Also, the engine in tractors or self-propelled machines
must be large enough to supply the power requirements of the field operations. The following equation can be used
to estimate draft requirements:

where DI = implement draft, kN

Fi = dimensionless texture adjustment factor from Table
i = 1 for fine, 2 for medium, or 3 for coarse textured soils
A, B, and C = implement-specific constants from Table
d = tillage depth, cm (use 1.0 for minor tillage tools and seeders)
 Measuring draft of implements
Draft estimates from Table are averages and can vary by plus or minus the percentages shown in the right-
most column of the table. After the implement draft is determined, the drawbar power can be calculated using the
following equation:

where Pdb = drawbar power, kW

v = travel speed, estimated from Table.
Measuring draft of implements
 Measuring draft of implements
Tractors are often rated by brake power or PTO power rather than drawbar power. After the drawbar power
is calculated, the PTO power and/or net flywheel power can be estimated using Figure.
 Measuring draft of implements
Some machines have a rotary power requirement, where the power is supplied via the tractor PTO or, in the
case of self-propelled machines, from the engine on the selfpropelled machine. Following Equation can be used to
estimate rotary power requirements.
Measuring draft of implements
Measuring draft of implements
Thank you!