How To Reduce Soil Compaction Caused by Tractor Tyres

12/10/2017 - Big Tyres

Soil compaction from heavy agricultural machinery is one of the main processes that damages the soil around us. Soil compaction can pose a great economic impact & can end up consuming a great deal of fuel & time.

What is soil compaction?

Soil compaction is one of the main processes that damages the soil around us, it's caused by the tractor tyres of heavy agricultural machines passing over it, often in difficult climatic conditions.

The amount of compaction depends on the very nature of the soil, its water content, types of the crop in the soil, and the amount of load applied to the surface. Repeated passes by agricultural equipment creates soil compaction and shear.

Soil compaction can pose a great economic impact, decrease in agronomical yield, risk of disease and the need to do regeneration work on the soil such as ploughing, which can consume a great deal of fuel and time.

What are ruts?

Soil compaction from tractor tyres creates ruts in the soil, ruts are a long deformation of the soil characterised by a deep recess when run over by farming machinery. Ruts develop much more easily on muddy ground.

Ruts have consequences that are catastrophic for agronomical development, nothing grows in a rut so it represents a loss of yield for the farmer.

Ruts encourage water stagnation which can asphyxiate plants and encourage the development of disease, and also causes agricultural machines to use more energy.

The depth of a rut is similar to a “step” that an tractor tyre needs to climb constantly, this causes an increase in fuel consumption.

A field with a lot of ruts has to be reconditioned, soil regeneration work has to be carried out, but doing this uses up time and fuel, affecting a farm's productivity and profitability.

A tractor tyre in direct contact with the ground helps to limit soil compaction and the formations of ruts.

The quality of an agricultural tyre lies in its ability to carry very heavy loads at very low pressure. In fact, the pressure in the tyre is close to the mean amount of pressure exerted on the soil (for example, If the pressure in a tyre is 14.5 psi - the pressure exerted on the soil by the tyre will be around 1Lbs/Sq.In).

Therefore, the higher the tyre pressure the greater the pressure that is exerted onto the soil from the tractor tyre, meaning greater compaction and rut formation.

Soil compaction is also amplified by slipping, getting good tyres with great traction is fundamental to limit the formation of ruts.

A good start is to get tractor tyres in a radial construction rather than a crossply (bias) construction. Radial technology has demonstrated its advantages in the world of agriculture. Compared with crossply technology, radial helps to reduce compaction and increases your machines traction capability thanks to its ability to carry heavier loads with lower pressure.