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Domenico Pessina is a Full Professor in Agricultural Mechanics and Mechanization at the University of Milan. He received degree in Agricultural Sciences in 1981 and became assistant professor in 1992, associate professor in 1998, and full professor in 2011. He is a member of the National Board of Agricultural Engineers and of the Technical and Scientific Working Groups on the OECD Tractor Safety and Performance Standards. He is an author of over 350 publications in Scientific and Technical Journals and has also peer-reviewed and published in national and international journals with IF. Main research fields: agricultural operators’ safety; noise, vibrations and driver’s wellness on agricultural machinery; ROPS for agricultural machinery; agricultural machinery performance; and agricultural soil compaction.
In the agricultural sector, the loss of stability related to the use of self-propelled agricultural machinery (SPAM) has caused and continues to cause accidents, often with fatal outcomes. The probability of occurrence of this risk can be reduced by acting on various aspects, but above all the presence of a protective structure is necessary. Depending on the machine, the protective structure can be a roll-over protective structure (ROPS), or a tip-over protective structure (TOPS). Hence, to reduce this gap, a reverse engineering approach and virtual engineering methods were applied starting from the analysis of harmonized standards actually in force, with the goal of providing both a reference procedure to be used in the risk assessment analysis of SPAM’s protective structures and technical information to manufacture and install protective structure on old agricultural machinery. Two representative case studies were used to validate the procedure by means of finite element method (FEM) analyses and computer aided design (CAD) prototyping. Results show that the proposed approach can represent a useful indication for the safety update of this type of machinery.
Leonardo Vita; Davide Gattamelata; Domenico Pessina. Retrofitting Agricultural Self-Propelled Machines with Roll-Over and Tip-Over Protective Structures. Safety 2021, 7, 46 .
AMA StyleLeonardo Vita, Davide Gattamelata, Domenico Pessina. Retrofitting Agricultural Self-Propelled Machines with Roll-Over and Tip-Over Protective Structures. Safety. 2021; 7 (2):46.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeonardo Vita; Davide Gattamelata; Domenico Pessina. 2021. "Retrofitting Agricultural Self-Propelled Machines with Roll-Over and Tip-Over Protective Structures." Safety 7, no. 2: 46.
In Italy, about 160 fatal accidents per year have occurred recently in agriculture, most of them involving agricultural machinery. The most frequent cause of fatal events is the tractor overturning. One of the opportunities to monitor the trend of agricultural tractors fatal overturning is a meticulous search for information on the numerous web portals, at national and local level. In fact, in their information purposes are also included the recording, practically in real time, of significant details about each fatal event, such as the place of the accident, the year, the month and the day of the week of occurring, the victim’s age, gender and nationality, etc. This article is describing the results of the monitoring of fatal tractor overturning accidents in the period of 2008–2019 in Italy. In the 12 years of the survey, 1414 fatal accidents were recorded, most of them occurring in the spring and summer months. The region with the highest cumulative number of fatal events was Tuscany (143). The majority (58.8%) of the victims were over 60, while 71.4% of accidents occurred during field work. Most (57.6%) of the tractors involved in the fatal events did not have rollover protective structures (ROPS), while 19.4% were equipped with a two-post foldable front roll-bar, which, however, was in the lowered position at the time of the accident. In most cases, the tractors involved were obsolete and in poor maintenance conditions, and did not comply with general and specific laws on work safety. To improve the situation, the introduction of the tractor training certificate for the drivers and the periodical inspection for tractors, as well as the issuing of significant financial supports to encourage the replacement of the old models with modern more safe models, are the most effective actions to be put into practice.
Davide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Domenico Pessina. Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4536 .
AMA StyleDavide Facchinetti, Stefano Santoro, Lavinia Galli, Domenico Pessina. Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (8):4536.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Domenico Pessina. 2021. "Agricultural Tractor Roll-Over Related Fatalities in Italy: Results from a 12 Years Analysis." Sustainability 13, no. 8: 4536.
Viticulture involves significant levels of machinery traffic, causing heavy soil compaction. In particular, the compaction of the subsoil is increased; a deep tillage could certainly solve the problem, but the risk of damage to the plants’ root system is high. The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of both the top- and the sub-soil compaction in a hillside vineyard located in Tuscany (Italy), investigating different machine-implement combinations, i.e., self-propelled machinery or narrow tractor coupled to implements. The tests were repeated periodically along the entire growing season, approximately every 6–8 weeks (end of May, end of July and first decade of October). A single test included at least 50 sample measurements, recorded randomly along each inter-row investigated. In the surveyed field, the inter-rows were alternatively covered with grass, or tilled in the top layer during the previous wintertime. Two experimental test sets were developed: the first involved the use of two implements (a sprayer and a grape harvester) towed by narrow tractors, while in the second the pesticide distribution and the harvesting were performed with a properly equipped self-propelled tool carrier. All the other farming operations were executed using the same implements in both cases. Balanced use of the self-propelled tool carrier and the traditional tractor-implement combination allows a better distribution of the soil compaction (in particular in the top-soil), thus improving the root-growing efficiency.
Domenico Pessina; Lavinia Galli; Stefano Santoro; Davide Facchinetti. Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2475 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Lavinia Galli, Stefano Santoro, Davide Facchinetti. Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (5):2475.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Lavinia Galli; Stefano Santoro; Davide Facchinetti. 2021. "Sustainability of Machinery Traffic in Vineyard." Sustainability 13, no. 5: 2475.
Incorrect pesticide use in plant protection often involve a risk to the health of operators and consumers and can have negative impacts on the environment and the crops. The application of artificial intelligence techniques can help the reduction of the volume sprayed, decreasing these impacts. In Italy, the production of ready-to-eat salad in greenhouses requires usually from 8 to 12 treatments per year. Moreover, inappropriate sprayers are frequently used, being originally designed for open-field operations. To solve this problem, a small vehicle suitable for moving over rough ground (named “rover”), was designed, able to carry out treatments based on a single row pass in the greenhouse, devoted to reduce significantly the sprayed product amount. To ascertain its potential, the prototype has been tested at two growth stages of some salad cultivars, adopting different nozzles and boom settings. Parameters such as boom height, nozzle spacing and inclination, pump pressure and rover traveling speed were studied. To assess the effectiveness of the spraying coverage, for each run several water-sensitive papers were placed throughout the vegetation. Compared to the commonly distributed mixture volume (1000 L/ha), the prototype is able to reduce up to 55% of product sprayed, but still assure an excellent crop coverage.
Davide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Giulio Fontana; Lorenzo Fedeli; Simone Parisi; Luigi Bonacchi; Stefan Šušnjar; Fabio Salvai; Gabriele Coppola; Matteo Matteucci; Domenico Pessina. Reduction of Pesticide Use in Fresh-Cut Salad Production through Artificial Intelligence. Applied Sciences 2021, 11, 1992 .
AMA StyleDavide Facchinetti, Stefano Santoro, Lavinia Galli, Giulio Fontana, Lorenzo Fedeli, Simone Parisi, Luigi Bonacchi, Stefan Šušnjar, Fabio Salvai, Gabriele Coppola, Matteo Matteucci, Domenico Pessina. Reduction of Pesticide Use in Fresh-Cut Salad Production through Artificial Intelligence. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11 (5):1992.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide Facchinetti; Stefano Santoro; Lavinia Galli; Giulio Fontana; Lorenzo Fedeli; Simone Parisi; Luigi Bonacchi; Stefan Šušnjar; Fabio Salvai; Gabriele Coppola; Matteo Matteucci; Domenico Pessina. 2021. "Reduction of Pesticide Use in Fresh-Cut Salad Production through Artificial Intelligence." Applied Sciences 11, no. 5: 1992.
The production of wood pellets has grown considerably in the last decades. Besides woody biomass, other feedstocks can be used for pellet production. Among these, miscanthus presents some advantages because, even if specifically cultivated, it requires low inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides and shows high biomass yield (up to 28 tons of dry matter ha−1 in Europe). Even if in the last years some studies evaluated the environmental impact of woody pellet production, there is no information about the environmental performances of miscanthus pellet production. In this study, the environmental impact of miscanthus pellet was evaluated using the Life Cycle Assessment approach with a cradle-to plant gate perspective. Primary data were collected in a small-medium size pelletizing plant located in Northern Italy where miscanthus is cultivated to be directly processed. The results highlight how the miscanthus pellet shows lower environmental impact compared to woody pellet, mainly due to the lower energy consumption during pelletizing. The possibility to pelletize the miscanthus biomass without any drying offsets the environmental impact related to the miscanthus cultivation for all the evaluated impact categories (except for Marine eutrophication). In detail, for global warming potential, 1 ton of miscanthus pellet shows an impact of 121.6 kg CO2 eq. (about 8% lower respect to woody pellet) while for the other evaluated impact categories the impact reduction ranges from 4 to 59%. Harvesting, which unlike the other field operations is carried out every year, is by far the main contributor to the impacts of the cultivation phase while electricity is the main contributor to the pelletizing phase.
Alessandra Fusi; Jacopo Bacenetti; Andrea R. Proto; Doriana E. A. Tedesco; Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment. Energies 2020, 14, 73 .
AMA StyleAlessandra Fusi, Jacopo Bacenetti, Andrea R. Proto, Doriana E. A. Tedesco, Domenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti. Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment. Energies. 2020; 14 (1):73.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlessandra Fusi; Jacopo Bacenetti; Andrea R. Proto; Doriana E. A. Tedesco; Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. 2020. "Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment." Energies 14, no. 1: 73.
In this study, the economic profitability of hazelnut production in central Italy using conventional and organic farming systems was evaluated using the cost–benefit analysis methodology. Viterbo’s province is the leading province in Italy in terms of quantity produced. Three indicators were calculated for both farming systems: net present value, payback time, internal rate of return. The analysis was conducted utilizing primary data collected by means of interviews and surveys with local farmers and organizations of producers. The collected production data refer to the decade 2008–2018; a global area of 100.34 ha and 76.14 ha were considered for conventional and organic cultivation, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was carried out considering different discount rates, price variability, and inflation rates. The net present value is equal to 92,800 €/ha and to 3778 €/ha, the payback time is 10.47 years and 42.94 years, while the internal rate of return is 12.2% and 1.1% for the conventional and organic production systems, respectively. The conventional production system performs significantly more remuneratively, considering that the price premium paid by the market for the organic product and the subsidies granted to organic farmers are not sufficient to balance the lower yield.
Giuseppe Coppola; Michele Costantini; Luigi Orsi; Davide Facchinetti; Francesco Santoro; Domenico Pessina; Jacopo Bacenetti. A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conventional and Organic Hazelnuts Production Systems in Center Italy. Agriculture 2020, 10, 409 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Coppola, Michele Costantini, Luigi Orsi, Davide Facchinetti, Francesco Santoro, Domenico Pessina, Jacopo Bacenetti. A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conventional and Organic Hazelnuts Production Systems in Center Italy. Agriculture. 2020; 10 (9):409.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Coppola; Michele Costantini; Luigi Orsi; Davide Facchinetti; Francesco Santoro; Domenico Pessina; Jacopo Bacenetti. 2020. "A Comparative Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conventional and Organic Hazelnuts Production Systems in Center Italy." Agriculture 10, no. 9: 409.
The white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) industry is paying attention to innovation for a more sustainable production and it is getting sophisticated to reach high grade of energetic efficiency coupled with high quality product. For mushroom cultivation the environmental conditions must be controlled therefore in some phases the heat needs to be provided and in other ones it needs to be removed. The objective of this study was to investigate the current growing methodology used at an industrial mushroom farm site for a quantification of energy consumption. Mushroom growing parameters such as temperature and relative humidity were monitored during the production process placing sensors for a continuous data recording of these parameters in different and crucial positions throughout the entire production cycle. Heat is massively produced by the compost/mycelium system and the goal was to quantify the amount of energy needed to remove it through a cooling system and a forced air system that pulls cold air in the cultivation room and picks up the warmer and more humid air. Often, the heat produced by the cultivation room is not enough to reach the optimal growth conditions. In this case the application of an air heating system is necessary. The study was focused on evaluating the energy exchanges during a 41-day period corresponding to a growth cycle of three flushes to quantify the energy requirements of the conditioning system. A total energy of 5483 kWh/cycle was quantified for a mushroom production of 25,000 kg, corresponding to a specific energy requirement of 0.22 kWh/kg, 0.18 for cooling and 0.04 for heating. Results showed that the electric power consumption represents a crucial cost for the mushroom production, therefore an optimization of the energy requirements of the production plant is desirable and it can lead to relevant economic savings. A scenario considering a more efficient air conditioning system was proposed for a more sustainable mushroom production.
Roberto Beghi; Valentina Giovenzana; Alessio Tugnolo; Domenico Pessina; Riccardo Guidetti. Evaluation of energy requirements of an industrial scale plant for the cultivation of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2020, 51, 57 -63.
AMA StyleRoberto Beghi, Valentina Giovenzana, Alessio Tugnolo, Domenico Pessina, Riccardo Guidetti. Evaluation of energy requirements of an industrial scale plant for the cultivation of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2020; 51 (2):57-63.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Beghi; Valentina Giovenzana; Alessio Tugnolo; Domenico Pessina; Riccardo Guidetti. 2020. "Evaluation of energy requirements of an industrial scale plant for the cultivation of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 51, no. 2: 57-63.
In the vineyard, the organic fertilizer spreading in VRT mode is difficult, because the various matrices used show typically a remarkable variation in their physical parameters, such as the size, water content, density, etc., mainly due to their very different original sources and managing operations. The EU LIFE-Vitisom project (LIFE15 ENV/IT/000392) focuses on the set-up of organic fertilizer spreaders, able to the distribution in VRT mode in vineyards. The VRT distribution was based on prescription maps (i.e. referred to the plant vigour) or, as an alternative at the beginning of the growing season, using a set of sensors reading locally and in real time the branches dimension. The field tests were carried out in 2017 and 2018 seasons, and were devoted to measure the spreading quality in VRT mode of three matrices (manure, solid digestate and compost), by comparing the theoretical (implemented in the software) and the real rates distributed. In respect to the acceptable deviation (±20%), the results show values exceeding the limit in a significant number of tested conditions. A possible solution (at present under investigation) is to vary the bulkhead speed (i.e. the matrix flow to be distributed) not only considering the prescription map or the local sensors signals, but also taking into account the material density increase from the beginning to the end of a single spreading routine.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Lavinia Eleonora Galli. LIFE-Vitisom: An EU Project for the Set-up of VRT Organic Fertilization in Vineyard. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 2020, 519 -529.
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti, Lavinia Eleonora Galli. LIFE-Vitisom: An EU Project for the Set-up of VRT Organic Fertilization in Vineyard. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering. 2020; ():519-529.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Lavinia Eleonora Galli. 2020. "LIFE-Vitisom: An EU Project for the Set-up of VRT Organic Fertilization in Vineyard." Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering , no. : 519-529.
Jacopo Bacenetti; Daniela Lovarelli; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. An environmental comparison of techniques to reduce pollutants emissions related to agricultural tractors. Biosystems Engineering 2018, 171, 30 -40.
AMA StyleJacopo Bacenetti, Daniela Lovarelli, Davide Facchinetti, Domenico Pessina. An environmental comparison of techniques to reduce pollutants emissions related to agricultural tractors. Biosystems Engineering. 2018; 171 ():30-40.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJacopo Bacenetti; Daniela Lovarelli; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. 2018. "An environmental comparison of techniques to reduce pollutants emissions related to agricultural tractors." Biosystems Engineering 171, no. : 30-40.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Davide Maria Giordano. Narrow-Track Agricultural Tractors: A Survey on the Load of the Hand-Operated Foldable Rollbar. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 2016, 22, 275 -284.
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti, Davide Maria Giordano. Narrow-Track Agricultural Tractors: A Survey on the Load of the Hand-Operated Foldable Rollbar. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health. 2016; 22 (4):275-284.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Davide Maria Giordano. 2016. "Narrow-Track Agricultural Tractors: A Survey on the Load of the Hand-Operated Foldable Rollbar." Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 22, no. 4: 275-284.
A comparison between a traditional ploughing and a spading (performed at different travelling and rotor speeds) was carried out in a paddy field, for evaluating both technical and agronomic parameters (working time, power required, fuel consumption, pulling force, efficiency of crop residues incorporation, etc.). The ploughing showed an effective tillage capacity 51% higher than the faster spading, and a reduction ranging between 20.8 and 44.1% of fuel consumption per surface unit. On the contrary, the spading machine requested no or minimum pulling force, making possible its use even in critical conditions, as for example on wet soil. On the other hand, the spading machine shows clear advantages under the agronomic point of view: in fact it does not create the typical compact layer at the bottom of the working depth, which reduces the root penetration and does not allow the capillary circulation of the solution into the soil. Indeed, in the paddy field the creation of a compact layer is able to reduce the water consumption, so it is not considered a problem to be solved. In any case, the spading machine better managed the crop residues, because they were mixed along the completely tilled layer.
Davide M. Giordano; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. The spading machine as an alternative to the plough for the primary tillage. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2015, 46, 36 -40.
AMA StyleDavide M. Giordano, Davide Facchinetti, Domenico Pessina. The spading machine as an alternative to the plough for the primary tillage. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2015; 46 (1):36-40.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide M. Giordano; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. 2015. "The spading machine as an alternative to the plough for the primary tillage." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 46, no. 1: 36-40.
Davide M. Giordano; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. Comfort efficiency of the front axle suspension in off-road operations of a medium-powered agricultural tractor. Contemporary Engineering Sciences 2015, 8, 1311 -1325.
AMA StyleDavide M. Giordano, Davide Facchinetti, Domenico Pessina. Comfort efficiency of the front axle suspension in off-road operations of a medium-powered agricultural tractor. Contemporary Engineering Sciences. 2015; 8 ():1311-1325.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavide M. Giordano; Davide Facchinetti; Domenico Pessina. 2015. "Comfort efficiency of the front axle suspension in off-road operations of a medium-powered agricultural tractor." Contemporary Engineering Sciences 8, no. : 1311-1325.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Davide Giordano. The driver’s protection in case of self-propelled machinery roll-over. Contemporary Engineering Sciences 2015, 8, 1127 -1140.
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti, Davide Giordano. The driver’s protection in case of self-propelled machinery roll-over. Contemporary Engineering Sciences. 2015; 8 ():1127-1140.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Davide Giordano. 2015. "The driver’s protection in case of self-propelled machinery roll-over." Contemporary Engineering Sciences 8, no. : 1127-1140.
Domenico Pessina. [Mechanisation sustainability of the agricultural chains: the case of viticulture in Lombardy]. Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia 2013, 35, 1 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina. [Mechanisation sustainability of the agricultural chains: the case of viticulture in Lombardy]. Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia. 2013; 35 (4):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina. 2013. "[Mechanisation sustainability of the agricultural chains: the case of viticulture in Lombardy]." Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia 35, no. 4: 1.
Apart the winter period, the activity in specialized agricultural cultivations (i.e. wine- and fruit-growing) is distributed for a long period of the year. Some tasks, such as pesticide distribution, are repeated several times during the growing season. On the other hand, mechanization is one of the pillars on which is based the modern agriculture management. As a consequence, in wine growing the tractor driver has to be considered a worker potentially subjected to high level of vibrations, due to the poor machinery conditions often encountered, and sometimes to the rough soil surface of the vineyard combined with the high travelling speed adopted in carrying out many operations. About vibrations, the Italian Decree 81/08 basically refers to the European Directive 2002/44/CE, that provides some very strict limits of exposure, both for whole body and hand-arm districts. In Oltrepo pavese, a large hilly area located the south part of the Pavia province (Lombardy - Italy) wine growing is the main agricultural activity; for this reason, a detailed survey on the vibration levels recorded at the tractor driver’s seat was carried out, in order to ascertain the real risk to which the operators are exposed. The activity in wine growing has been classified into 6 groups of similar tasks, as follows: 1. canopy management: pruning, trimming, binding, stripping, etc.; 2. soil management: harrowing, hoeing, subsoiling etc.; 3. inter-row management: chopping of pruning , pinching, grass mowing, etc.; 4. crop protection: pesticides and fungicides distribution, sulfidation, foliar fertilization, etc.; 5. grape harvesting: manual or mechanical; 6. transport: from the vineyard to the cellar. For each group of tasks, the vibration levels on 3 the traditional axes (x, y and z) were recorded, and then an exposure time was calculated for each of them, in order to ascertain the risk level in comparison to what provided by the dedicated standard. Finally, a detailed study was conducted on the most dangerous working conditions, with the goal to offer solutions able to reduce the overall exposure, as improving the comfort level, as to shorten the working time when possible and/or to provide suitable periods of rest.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. Exposure to vibrations in wine growing. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2013, 44, 1 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti. Exposure to vibrations in wine growing. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2013; 44 (2):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. 2013. "Exposure to vibrations in wine growing." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 44, no. 2: 1.
Roll-Over Protective Structure (ROPS) represents the state of art for the driver’s protection in case of tractors roll-over. Despite their real risk of overturning, the ROPS approach for the Self-Propelled agricultural Machinery (SPM) is quite recent. Due to the several SPM categories available on the market, characterized by very different mass, dimension and working functions, the fitting of a ROPS and consequently the ascertainment of its protection level is quite complicated. SPM could be preliminarily divided into at least two categories: - large SPM: combine, forage, potato, sugar-beet and grape harvesters; sprayer; etc.; - small SPM: ride-on tractor, mower, comb side-delivery rake, etc. The most followed approach at present is to check preliminarily the overturning behavior of the SPM considering its longitudinal and lateral stability; if a real risk of overturning is ascertained, in order to minimize the likelihood of driver’s injury the manufacturer often installs a ROPS. The consequent need is to provide some test criteria of them. Sprayers between large SPM, and comb side-delivery rake between small SPM were the machine types on which ROPS were tested, adopting in both cases the procedure provided by Code 4 issued by the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD), dedicated to ROPS fitted on conventional agricultural and forestry tractors. Notwithstanding the very different dimensions of these two SPM, this standard was selected considering the predictable roll-over behavior, also in relation with the front and rear track values. On the 4950 kg mass sprayer was fitted a closed cab, while on the 690 kg mass comb side-delivery rakes a 3-pillars frame was applied. In both cases the response of the tests was positive, so indicating a general suitability of OECD Code 4 to assure a ROPS good driver’s protection level in case of overturning. On the other hand, to ascertain more in detail the roll-over behavior of the SPM, some further questions need to be deeply examined, such as the driver’s place location, the height of the centre of gravity from the ground in different machine configurations (i.e. with crop tanks empty or full), the external silhouette, the axles mass distribution of the laden/unladen machine, etc.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. Fitting and testing roll-over protective structures on self-propelled agricultural machinery. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2013, 44, 1 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti. Fitting and testing roll-over protective structures on self-propelled agricultural machinery. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2013; 44 (2):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. 2013. "Fitting and testing roll-over protective structures on self-propelled agricultural machinery." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 44, no. 2: 1.
The Journal of Agricultural Engineering is the official journal of the Italian Society of Agricultural Engineering - AIIA
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. Exposure to vibrations in wine growing. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2013, 44, 1 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti. Exposure to vibrations in wine growing. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2013; 44 (2s):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. 2013. "Exposure to vibrations in wine growing." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 44, no. 2s: 1.
Roll-Over Protective Structure (ROPS) represents the state of art for the driver’s protection in case of tractors roll-over. Despite their real risk of overturning, the ROPS approach for the Self-Propelled agricultural Machinery (SPM) is quite recent. Due to the several SPM categories available on the market, characterized by very different mass, dimension and working functions, the fitting of a ROPS and consequently the ascertainment of its protection level is quite complicated. SPM could be preliminarily divided into at least two categories: - large SPM: combine, forage, potato, sugar-beet and grape harvesters; sprayer; etc.; - small SPM: ride-on tractor, mower, comb side-delivery rake, etc. The most followed approach at present is to check preliminarily the overturning behavior of the SPM considering its longitudinal and lateral stability; if a real risk of overturning is ascertained, in order to minimize the likelihood of driver’s injury the manufacturer often installs a ROPS. The consequent need is to provide some test criteria of them. Sprayers between large SPM, and comb side-delivery rake between small SPM were the machine types on which ROPS were tested, adopting in both cases the procedure provided by Code 4 issued by the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD), dedicated to ROPS fitted on conventional agricultural and forestry tractors. Notwithstanding the very different dimensions of these two SPM, this standard was selected considering the predictable roll-over behavior, also in relation with the front and rear track values. On the 4950 kg mass sprayer was fitted a closed cab, while on the 690 kg mass comb side-delivery rakes a 3-pillars frame was applied. In both cases the response of the tests was positive, so indicating a general suitability of OECD Code 4 to assure a ROPS good driver’s protection level in case of overturning. On the other hand, to ascertain more in detail the roll-over behavior of the SPM, some further questions need to be deeply examined, such as the driver’s place location, the height of the centre of gravity from the ground in different machine configurations (i.e. with crop tanks empty or full), the external silhouette, the axles mass distribution of the laden/unladen machine, etc.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. Fitting and testing roll-over protective structures on self-propelled agricultural machinery. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2013, 44, 1 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti. Fitting and testing roll-over protective structures on self-propelled agricultural machinery. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2013; 44 (2):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti. 2013. "Fitting and testing roll-over protective structures on self-propelled agricultural machinery." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 44, no. 2: 1.
The original article Evaluation of vibration levels improves the efficiency of modern tracklaying tractors (Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2012; XLIII:e7 DOI: 10.4081/jae.2012.e7) by Pessina D, Facchinetti D, Bonalume V, was published with an incorrect title due to a production error. The correct title is: Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors. The Journal of Agricultural Engineering sincerely apologizes to the authors and the readers for this mistake.Journal of Agricultural EngineeringProduction Office DOI: 10.4081/jae.2012.e14
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Valentina Bonalume. Errata corrige - Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2012, 43, e14 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti, Valentina Bonalume. Errata corrige - Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2012; 43 (2):e14.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Valentina Bonalume. 2012. "Errata corrige - Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 43, no. 2: e14.
Agricultural operators run a very high risk of exposure to mechanical vibration. To improve comfort, many different devices have recently been fitted to agricultural self-propelled machinery, especially on the most modern high-powered wheeled tractors. In contrast, agricultural tracklaying tractors are not equipped with a suspended cab floor and frequently poor or no seat suspension is fitted. Consequently, the levels of vibration measured in the driving seat of tracklaying tractors often widely exceed the limit stipulated by official national standards. The manufacturers of tracklaying tractors are currently trying to improve the level of comfort at the driver’s place by reducing both the production and the transmission of vibration. The vibration levels at the driving seat of a group of tracklaying tractors produced by some leading Italian manufacturers were so measured. The models examined in the study differed in having either 5- or 6-roller track support, different types and stiffness of seat suspension, and in whether or not they were coupled to an implement. The type of seat suspension, and above all its correct adjustment, dramatically influenced the level of vibration, as did the increase in the number of track rollers. In contrast, whether or not the tractor was coupled to an implement at the rear 3-point linkage did not make any significant change to the vibration comfort during transport. Also on the best modern trackalying tractor models, vibration levels frequently exceed stipulated limits, so that a further reduction is urgently required. Possible solutions that could be developed may involve the universal adoption of rubber tracks and/or the fitting of silent blocks on the cab floor and suspension devices on one or both axles.
Domenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Valentina Bonalume. Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 2012, 43, 7 .
AMA StyleDomenico Pessina, Davide Facchinetti, Valentina Bonalume. Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors. Journal of Agricultural Engineering. 2012; 43 (1):7.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDomenico Pessina; Davide Facchinetti; Valentina Bonalume. 2012. "Evaluation of the efficiency of systems to reduce vibration on modern tracklaying tractors." Journal of Agricultural Engineering 43, no. 1: 7.