The factors that may have influence on tractor performance are several, inclusive tire load and inflation pressure. These factors were studied in field conditions (surface not disturbed), under four tire load, four inflation pressure with and without the use of the mechanical front wheel assist drive. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used. The tractor under evalution was submitted to a constant drawbar pull by other tractor linked with a load cell. The results showed the significant influence of load tire on the rear wheel slip and on coefficient of traction, which increased with the decreasing of the load tires. The inflation pressure influenced significantly the slip, the forward velocity and drawbar power without to show a general tendency in the behaviour. The use of mechanical front wheel assist drive showed significant advantages to the some prior parameters. The interactive effects of load tire and inflation pressure indicated that some combinations were more favourable to develop major velocity and minor slip. The characteristics concerning to engine performance (fuel consumption and speed engine) were not influenced by neither factors and/or their interactive.
ballast; agricultural tractor; drawbar
