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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.

Traction performance tests were run by Alberta Farm Machinery Research Centre personnel on four-wheel drive tractors with single, dual and triple rubber tires and on track tractors with two and four rubber belt tracks. Traction power delivery efficiency was compared in various tilled and untilled soil conditions representative of the Northern Great Plains. Various ballast set-ups and tire inflation pressures were tested. Power hop problems, steering performance, ease of set-up and overall system costs were also evaluated.

John Deere Harvester Works Product Engineering developed a combine simulation computer program called HarvesTrainer. This is a combine operator training aid that will run on many personal computers. It covers both corn and small grain harvesting within the range of combines that John Deere presently makes. HarvesTrainer has been used and reviewed by various members of the John Deere engineering, service, and marketing departments and has received a very positive response. In prototype form it was used at an infield combine school in the fall of 1984. It was then released to John Deere service and training personnel and is now available as a market item. People who used the program have felt it to be very helpful in assisting them to understand combine operation.