Effects of Heavy Agricultural Machines for Sugar Beet Harvesting on Physical Soil Properties

Abstract

By means of a field trial, the effects of typical trafficking and wheel load situations caused by self-propelled six-row bunker hopper sugar beet harvesters on the soil structure beneath the topsoil were investigated. In three consecutive years, single and multiple passes with maximum loads between 9 and 14 metric tons with wheel and rubber belt undercarriages were compared. In the upper subsoil directly beneath the loosened topsoil (0.28--0.33 m depth), all treatments showed deformations, but at a depth of about 0.4 m (0.38--0.43 m), only the treatments with wheel undercarriages and loads over 10 metric tons. The deformations were not so severe that critical soil physical conditions were reached. Nevertheless all possibilities for agricultural machinery use which protects the soil must be employed.