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The objective of field tests was to analyze and compare the performances of an MFWD wheel tractor and an equal sized rubber track (belted) tractor over a wide range of conditions on Texas soils. When comparing the wheel tractor to the belted tractor across three vehicle traction ratios, two soil types and two soil conditions there was very little difference in fuel efficiency or power delivery efficiency. Both MFWD and belted tractors showed their best performance in the range of 0.4 to 0.5 Vehicle Traction Ratio (VTR). The belted tractor showed its greatest benefit when operated at high VTRs and in soft or loose soil conditions.

Traction performance and fuel efficiency tests were run at the Alberta Farm Machinery Research Centre to compare two different rubber belt tractors with two similar radial tire equipped mechanical front wheel drive tractors. Three different test methods were used in both tilled and untilled clay loam soil. The optimized systems showed only small differences in overall performance and efficiency in good traction conditions and at vehicle traction ratios of 0.4 to 0.5. This was also where both types of vehicle showed their best power delivery performance. Belted tractors showed their greatest benefit when operated at VTRs of 0.6 or higher or in soft or loose soil conditions.

A microcomputer based data acquisition system for use in monitoring tractor performance has become a very useful method of evaluating tractors and implements for research purposes, One limitation which has made comparisons of tractors difficult has been the high cost of Instrumentation needed to measure, monitor and store tractor performance parameters, such as engine speed, fuel flow, drawbar pull, ground-speed and wheel slip. The primary purpose of this paper is to present a tractor mounted Field-Transferable Instrumentation Package (F-TIP) that allows for comparing tractors, on performance and efficiency while operating under essentially identical field conditions, without unnecessary duplication of expensive instrumentation. The idea of field-transferable instrumentation has implications not only for research purposes, but may eventually be useful in industry and on farms.