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Ergonomic Evaluation of Three Electric Walk-Behind Tillers: Physiological Load, Vibration Exposure, and Soil Performance

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2026 ASABE Annual International Meeting  2600546.(doi:10.13031/aim.202600546)
Authors:   Felix Michael Oguche, Jianfeng Zhou, Dr., Karen Funkenbusch, Marcia Shannon, Dr., Noel Aloysius, Dr., Teng Teeh Lim, Dr., Aaron Yoder, Dr., Timothy Reinbott
Keywords:   agricultural ergonomics; tillage; vibration exposure; soil performance; physiological workload; electric tiller.

Abstract. Walk-behind tillers are widely used in small-scale agriculture, yet their physiological, postural, vibration, and noise demands may differ by design. This study compared rear-tine, front-tine, and electric auger configurations under field conditions using a repeated-measures protocol. Primary outcomes were working heart rate, cardiac cost of work, trunk flexion (mean and peak), and frequency-weighted hand-arm vibration (a_hv). Task duration was recorded as time-to-completion and therefore varied by participant and tiller. The rear-tine tiller produced the lowest working heart rate, the lowest cardiac cost of work, the lowest perceived exertion, and the shortest completion times. The front-tine tiller yielded the most upright trunk posture (peak 20.5°) compared with the rear-tine (28.3°). Trunk flexion was quantified from sagittal-plane video recordings; joint angles were extracted using markerless pose estimation (Inseer) and subsequently verified against digital goniometer measurements from corresponding static reference frames. Soil bulk density ranged from 0.78 to 1.32 g·cm⁻³. Noise exposure was summarized as L_Aeq T, and L_Amax relative to occupational limits. These findings highlight that the design of walk-behind tillers influences operator workload, posture, and exposure conditions, with implications for the ergonomic design of small-scale mechanized tillage systems.

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