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FIELD EFFICIENCY INFLUENCES FROM STEERING ADJUSTMENTS USING ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC PATTERNS

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

Citation:  Paper number  021009,  2002 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.9717) @2002
Authors:   Robert “Bobby” Grisso, P.J. Jasa, M.A. Schroeder, M.F. Kocher, and V.I. Adamchuk
Keywords:   field efficiency, machinery management, steering rate, geo-referenced data

Field efficiency is an important criterion for determining the expected field capacity and, indirectly, for making important machinery management decisions. The data gathered with a yield monitor during harvest and a DGPS monitor during planting were used to provide time-motion studies of equipment and operator productivity. This study used spatial data gathered by a farmer to determine field performance of a combine and a planter. Seven fields were used to compare results from soybean and corn production. Fields that are relatively flat with straight-rows were contrasted with contoured fields with slopes up to 3-5%. Two unique traffic patterns on a center pivot were compared. The steering adjustment index was developed to indicate the average degree of steering adjustment for field operations. The paper will discuss the possibility of using geo-referenced data to predict the reduction of field efficiency for various traffic patterns. Field efficiency and steering rate changes were compared. The steering adjustments for contoured traffic patterns were 2 to 4 times that of straight-rows. The steering adjustment information gave valuable information about field operation conditions. However, the correlation between the steering adjustment and field efficiency was moderate. Differences in data recording methods and operational characteristics are believed to be the main limitations.

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