Integrated soil tillage force prediction models

This paper describes the integration of a series of models to predict the forces acting on a range of tillage tools from simple plane tines to mouldboard ploughs. The results show that the horizontal (or draught) and vertical forces can be predicted with average errors of −3% and +33%, with the majority of the predicted values within ±20% and ±50% of the measured values respectively. The models adequately reflect the changes in soil strength and implement geometry. All of the predicted values given have been estimated using a spreadsheet based model which is freely available.