Farm tractors in cultivation consume a big amount of fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Improving traction performance and power transfer indices of wheeled tractors and field terrain soil with higher traction (pull ability) at optimal travel reduction (TR) can optimize energy utilization. This study compares the traction performance, fuel consumption, and field productivity, of a farm tractor equipped with a new drive wheel “rigid lugged wheel (RLW)” and conventional tire wheel (CTW) in field tillage operations. Tractor with RLW resulted 24.6 kN drawbar pull and 6.6 km.h⁻¹ travel speed at 80% tractive efficiency and 15.6% TR. While with CTW, the drawbar pull and the travel speed were 23.2 kN and 6.0 km h⁻¹ respectively at 68% tractive efficiency and 36.3% TR. The RLW resulted in improved traction performance with similar equipment weight. Tractor with RLW also resulted 220.5% lower TR, 14.8% higher field productivity, and 15.4% lower fuel consumption. RLW can control equipment weight and field traffic intensity with the improved traction performance of wheeled tractors and will make the field operations more energy-efficient and economical. For enhanced field drivability of RLW, further work is required to test for diverse field conditions and differently sized tractors.

In order to improve the performance of tillage tool for straw incorporation in silty clay loam, a combined tillage implement with plough and rotary tiller was designed. Its performance on straw incorporation and power consumption was investigated, and the combined tillage types (CTSR and CTDR) were compared with traditional tillage types including a sole plough type (SP and DP), a sole rotary tiller (RT), and a two-pass tillage type (SP+RT and DP+RT) in a rice field experiment. The effect of the forward speed and rotary speed for RT and CTSR were studied by DEM simulation. The ratio of straw coverage by CTSR and CTDR increased nearly 20% compared with RT, and the stability coefficient of tillage depth and CV of the surface evenness after tillage also improved in the field experiment. The total power of CTSR and CTDR was less than that of RT and two-pass tillage types by measurement. DEM simulation indicated that the total power of CTSR increased with the increase of the forward speed and rotary speed, and the reduction of the rotary power for the combined tillage implement can be obtained at a relatively high rotary speed. The combined tillage implement improved the performance on straw incorporation and had an advantage on power consumption at some operational conditions.

Traction failure on loose terrain is common in conventional agricultural wheeled tractors due to poor traction ability and lower power transfer efficiency of drive wheels, which leads to excessive energy consumption and soil compaction in agriculture. To overcome the problem, this paper presents a new design of a rigid lugged wheel for use in field tillage operations. This wheel was designed according to field operational requirements and also provided with rubber pads for smooth on-road drives. Kinematic and dynamic analysis of new wheel designs were carried out to study how they move, how they interact with the soil, and how they generate drive force in loose terrain soil. The relationship of wheel lug motion trajectories, displacement, and velocity of the wheel relative to field conditions, different travel reduction rates, and lug penetration/wheel sinkage were analyzed. Wheel-terrain interaction and shear stress-shear displacement relationships when the wheel is driven in soft, deformable terrain were studied using classic soil mechanics principles. It is found that the component of thrust in the direction of driving, i.e., driving force, is ranged between 81.52% and 86.17%, while the vertical component is reported to be less than 30% and further decreases to 9%, which is the compaction avoiding factor. The relationships, thus developed, of wheel parameters, soil stress and thrust characteristics, and wheel drive force were derived and revealed that the traction performance, power transfer efficiency, and trafficability of tractors in loose terrain can be improved by using the newly proposed wheel. A finite element method was used to analyze the designed wheel model for structural stability and optimization. The theoretical analysis results of the new drive wheel are convincing, so further tests and field operation research are recommended for sustainable adoption.