INFLUENCE OF TRACTORS UNDERCARRIAGE ON THE FERTILITY OF CHESTNUT SOILS IN BURYATIA

Abstract

In conditions of intensive farming, mobile energy vehicles, which are designed to increase crop yields, on the contrary, lead to a decrease in soil fertility. When carrying out technological operations, the soil acts as a bearing base for tractor propulsors, which have a significant mechanical effect on it. The analysis of the obtained data presented in the article showed that the search for the optimal tire pressure is an urgent problem in intensive farming. To conduct research related to soil compaction, strain-gauge membranes were designed and manufactured to measure the pressure of the tractor wheels on the soil, which were mounted at three points of one of the tire lugs. The paper presents the results of the experiments carried out to assess the compacting effect of tractor propellers of various brands (MTZ-82, T-I50K, K-701) on the yield of spring wheat in the natural and climatic conditions of the Republic of Buryatia. It was revealed that the passage of the tractor across the field significantly affects the physical and mechanical properties of chestnut soils of sandy loamy light loamy mechanical composition. The maximum increase in soil density after the passage of tractors reaches 0.31 g/cm3, and its porosity decreases by 10-12%. As a result, data have been obtained that allow us to conclude that by properly selecting the air pressure in the tires, it is possible to ensure equalization of the pressures across the width of the area of contact between the wheel and the soil, thereby reducing the compacting effect on the soil of the wheel tractor propellers when performing agricultural work on chestnut soils of the Republic of Buryatia.