DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A DIFFERENTIAL LOCK CONTROL SYSTEM FOR MF-399 TRACTOR

In this research was designed a differential lock control system. The system was test and evaluated after fabrication and its accuracy and precision was determined. A field experiment with three replications was conducted to investigate the effect of gear ratio, the method of tractor movement during plowing and differential position on drive wheel slippage and fuel consumption of MF399 tractor with mounted three-bottom moldboard plow. For data analysis, a 2×2×2 factorial experiment with randomized complete block design was used. The results of analysis of variance of test data showed highly significant effects of plowing method, differential position and their interaction and significant effect of gear ratio on drive wheel slippage. Also, differential position showed highly significant effect on fuel consumption, such that with differential lock engagement under system control, the fuel consumption was reduced 25 to 40 percent on the average. The overall results indicate that continuous employment of this type of differential lock control system for reduction of energy consumption and increasing tractor efficiency and field capacity is needed.