BALLASTING AS THE WAY OF IMPROVING THE OPERATIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE TRACTOR

Abstract

Since the invention of the tractor, its operational properties have been improved. As engine power increased, researchers, manufacturers and consumers looked for various ways to maximize the use of the effective power of the engine. Such methods are an increase in operational weight due to filling tires with liquid; the use of mechanical and hydraulic rear wheel loaders, agricultural machines on the front hitch and ballast loads. (Research purpose) The research purpose is to determine the limits of energy saturation of tractors of leading foreign manufacturers, to analyze the approach of foreign companies to the design of operational properties of tractors, to study, within the limits of energy saturation, the relationship between the operational mass of the tractor and the mass of the ballast cargo, to establish the optimal loading in order to maximize the operational properties for tractors of various classes. (Materials and methods) The article presents the research of domestic scientists studying the boundaries of energy saturation, manuals for the operation of tractors of leading foreign firms, tractors of the Belarus family, agricultural machinery. Authors applied the following methods: comparison, forecasting, economic and mathematical modeling, expert assessments and others. (Results and discussion) The article presents the energy saturation of 165 foreign agricultural tractors in 18 engine power ranges from 72 horsepower (53 kilowatts) to 628 horsepower (462 kilowatts) with a tractor weight from 3,400 to 29,940 kilograms. According to the energy saturation data, the limits of the energy saturation of tractors in different ranges of engine power and from different manufacturers were presented. The article presents the optimal loading options for maximizing the operational properties of tractors. (Conclusions) Based on the calculations of productivity and the effect of ballasting on productivity, the optimal option of loading was described.