Study of Vibration Exposure from 55 HP Agricultural Tractors in Rotary Tillage Operations

Abstract

Tractor is a versatile vehicle designed to deliver high torque at much lower speed. It is mainly used for off-road condition and different field operations. Among these, rotavators are getting popularised as it can be used for both primary and secondary tillage operation as well as both in wet land and dry land operations. It has the capability of producing good quality tillage compared to other tillage operations. However, the impact action of rotavator blades generate very intense vibrations. These vibrations when transmitted to the operator may cause various musculoskeletal disorders. Hence, to evaluate this a study was conducted to evaluate the effect of tractor use hour, operator weight, speed of operation and depth of operation on whole body vibration and hand arm vibration. From the study it was found that, with increase in hours of use vibration increased. The vibration was found lower in 75 kg operator as compared to 65 kg and 85 kg operators. Both whole body vibration and hand arm vibration was observed to be increased with increase in speed of operation. However, the effect of depth of operation was not increased linearly with increase in depth of operation.