Tractor

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the compacting effect of rubber tracked tractors in comparison to that of the traditional wheeled tractors. Macroporosity, pore shape and size distribution, bulk density, penetration resistance and saturated hydraulic conductivity were analysed in a clay soil (Vertic Cambisol) near Rome (Italy) following one and four passes on the same track of rubber tracked and wheeled tractors of medium power. The soil structure attributes were evaluated by characterising porosity by means of image analysis of soil thin sections prepared from undisturbed samples. Macroporosity decreased in the 0–10 cm layer of compacted soil, particularly after four tractor passes, due to a large reduction in the proportion of elongated pores and in their vertical continuity. The rubber tracked tractor had a more pronounced compaction effect in the surface layer (0–10 cm) than the wheeled tractor both after one and four passes; the latter treatment producing the lowest soil porosity. The same trend was observed for hydraulic conductivity, which showed a highly significant correlation with elongated pores. In the 10–20 cm layer the porosity was significantly decreased following traffic, apart from in the soil under one pass of the rubber tracked tractor. Again in this layer, the lowest values of porosity were found in soil after four passes of the rubber tracked tractor. Single and multiple passes made by the two tractors induced different effects regarding soil penetration resistance and bulk density. Increment ratio of penetration resistance after tractor passes with respect to the control was: 12.5 and 49.9% with the wheeled and 34.4 and 39.8% with the tracked after one and four passes, respectively. Increment ratio of dry bulk density values after tractor passes with respect to the control was 7.9 and 11.7% with the wheeled and 7.5 and 8.3% with the tracked after one and four passes, respectively. The tractor passes transformed the initial subangular blocky structure into a massive structure with sometimes a platy structure in the upper few centimetres. The results indicated that soil compaction following traffic with the rubber tracked tractor was generally the more pronounced. However the compacting effect of this tractor after one pass seemed to be limited to the surface layer only.

Abstract: This article analyzes the revolutionary impact the tractor had on rural America and examines the economic, technological, and institutional factors governing the machine's diff-usion. Our simultaneous-equation regression model helps decipher the complex relationship between farm scale and diffusion. In addition, analyzing diffiusion as a capital replacement problem reveals that the shift to the new technology was far more rapid than what has generally been thought and provides a new perspective on the long co-existence of both horses and tractors on farms. T he farm tractor was undoubtedly one of the most revolutionary technological innovations in the history of modern agriculture, vastly increasing the supply of farm power, raising productivity, and reshaping the rural landscape. But, as with many great inventions, the tractor's emergence generated considerable controversy, as contemporaries both lauded it as a symbol of progressive agriculture and condemned it for destroying a traditional way of life centered around the horse. Given the tractor' s importance, scholars have long pondered such issues as the evolution in tractor design, the long coexistence of the animal and mechanical modes of production, regional variations in adoption patterns, the impact of farm scale on diffusion, and the tractor's effect on farm structure and productivity.'

Abstract: A position tracking system for a plurality of mobile tractors and trailers includes an unique electronic identifier for each of a plurality of trailers. For each tractor of a plurality of tractors, the position tracking system includes a navigation system for determining a current position of the tractor, an electronic identifier reader for acquiring the electronic identifier of a trailer coupled to the tractor, and a position-reporting subsystem for reporting to a remote system the current position of the tractor and the electronic identifier of the trailer coupled to the tractor. In addition, the position tracking system includes, at each facility of a plurality of fixed-location facilities, one or more electronic identifier readers for acquiring the electronic identifier of one or more trailers located within the facility, and a trailer-presence reporting subsystem for reporting to the remote system the presence of the one or more trailers located within the facility.