TRACTOR FUEL CONSUMPTION PER UNIT AREA AS RELATED TO TRACTOR ENGINE SPEED, FORWARD SPEED AND PLOWING DEPTH

H Aday, S.; A. Najim, S.; S. Hmood, M.

	TRACTOR FUEL CONSUMPTION PER UNIT AREA AS RELATED TO TRACTOR ENGINE SPEED, FORWARD SPEED AND PLOWING DEPTH
IRAQ JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE
Article 1, Volume 13, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 0-0
Authors
S. H Aday; S. A. Najim; M. S. Hmood
Abstract
Fuel consumption per unit area (Fa) which means the number of kilograms or litters of fuel required to plow an area of hectare (10000m2) or donum (2500m2) of soil is widely used as parameter to evaluate the fuel consumption in the field in order to determine the quantity of the fuel required to plow a certain area of soil and hence the cost of the required fuel. To evaluate this parameter, Zetor tractor (6901), was used to carry out the experiments. The tractor was provided with four cylinders engine. The engine stroke and cylinder bore are 110 and 102mm respectively. Engine compression ratio is 17:1 and the fuel injection pump was of in-line type. The experiment parameters used to carry out the tests were engine speeds of 1250,1500,1750 and 2000rpm, forward speeds of G3h , G4h, G1L and G5h (four forward speeds for each engine speed) and three plowing depths (10,15 and 20 cm) to load the tractor engine. Results showed that the engine speed of 1500 rpm gave the lowest fuel consumption per unit area (Fa), i.e. as Fa is lower as the tractor performance is better, less fuel consumption per unit area, while the engine speed of 1750rpm became second. The highest engine speed (2000rpm) had lower Fa than the lowest engine speed (1250 rpm), thereupon the tractor should be used at higher engine speed rather than lower speed for greater fuel saving and therefore lower cost. The highest tractor forward speed for each engine speed and shallow plowing depth (10cm) gave the lowest Fa. The addition of 300kg to the tractor driving wheels improved the fuel consumption per unit area; it reduced Fa further for all engine speeds, tractor forward speeds and plowing depth. However, the lowest Fa (9.5kg/ha) was recorded with engine speed of 1500rpm, highest forward speed (0.85 m/sec), this forward speed was obtained with engine speed of 1500rpm and gear ratio of G5h, plowing depth 10cm and the added weight of 300kg. This combination of parameters would save about 61% from the total fuel consumption and cost requirement of plowing one hectare compared with the combination parameters of the slowest engine speed (1250 rpm), lowest forward speed (0.32 m/sec), deepest plowing depth and without addition of 300kg to the tractor driving wheels.

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