Pneumatic tracked propulsion and prospects for application on agricultural machinery

Numerous long-term studies in our country and abroad have shown a significant decrease in crop yields as a result of soil compaction caused by the running systems of tractors and mobile agricultural machinery. Soil compaction also leads to increased costs for soil cultivation. One way to reduce the negative impact of running systems on the soil is to create highly elastic tracked propulsion systems. There are two options for pneumatic tracks: tracks with longitudinal pneumatic tracks relative to the track axis and tracks with transverse pneumatic tracks on a metal traction chain.
During comparative tests of propulsors with pneumatic and metal tracks, it was found that installing pneumatic tracks instead of metal tracks equalizes the distribution of specific pressures along the length of the support surface. At the same time, the coefficient of unevenness of the pressure distribution is 1.6-1.9 times lower for the propulsor with a pneumatic track.