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Abstract.

The use of hand and machine tools on vertisols in Ghana for tillage and earthmoving operations has several constraints and challenges. Tillage and earthmoving operations involve soil cutting, penetrability, loosening or loading which can be related to soil penetration resistance. Soil penetrability can also be related to the strength and varies with the bulk density, texture and moisture content. The focus of the study is to establish relations between the penetration resistance and moisture content of five vertisols to serve as a guide for farmers, equipment operators and foresters. Five vertisols soil samples predominantly (clay sand, sandy clay, silty clay) were collected at 0 – 10 cm depth from the soil surface at sites in the Accra Plains, in Ghana. The samples were prepared into a slurry and a pocket penetrometer was used to determine the penetration resistance as the soil dries naturally by destructive sampling. The results show that penetration resistance increases as the soil dries from liquid limit, through field capacity, plastic limit, to shrinkage limit for all the samples. With these parameters, graphs were prepared to form tillage and soil use management guide.