Development of a Unique, Mobile, Single Wheel
Traction Testing Machine
S. K. Upadhyaya, J. Mehlschau, D. Wulfsohn, J. L. Glancey
ASSOC. MEMBER MEMBER
ASAE ASAE
ABSTRACT
unique, mobile, single wheel traction testing device
A has been developed at the Department of
Agricultural Engineering, University of California,
Davis. It is essentially a mobile soil bin that can be used
to conduct controlled field experiments in situ. The
device can be used to test tires ranging in diameter from
0.46 m (rim ID) to 2 m (OD) and up to maximum tire
width of 1 m. The system is designed to provide an
infinitely variable vertical load up to a maximum of 26.7
kN and a draft load up to a maximum of 13.3 kN. The
device can be operated in a draft control mode or a slip
control mode. Our test results indicate that the device
can be used to conduct controlled tests in situ.
INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Agricultural, forestry, earth moving, mining and
military operations share a common goal of improving
tractive performance of off-road vehicles. Power
transmission due to the soil-tire interaction continues to
be inefficient. Poor tractive efficiency (i.e., ratio of
drawbar power to axle power) during agricultural
operations leads to an estimated national yearly fuel loss
of 575 million liters (152 million gallons) [Gill and
Vanden Berg, 1968]. The fuel loss will be much higher if
we include forestry, earth moving, mining, and military
operations.
The soil-tire interaction results in high stresses at the
soil-tire interface, which cause soil compaction. The
compaction of soil leads to decreased pore space
(increased bulk density) in the soil, resulting in poor
water penetration and decreased root growth, which in
turn reduces crop yield. An annual crop yield loss of
about 1% in the northern U.S. to about 10% in the
southern U.S. is reported. The adverse effects of
compaction are lower in the northern U.S. because of
freezing during winter months. In terms of dollars, the
yearly yield loss is over a billion dollars.
Wismer (1984) reported that there are over 90 soil bin
facilities in the world. Approximately 60 of these
Article was submitted for publication in January, 1986; reviewed and
approved for publication by the Power and Machinery Div. of ASAE in
October, 1986. Presented as ASAE Paper No. 85-1554.
The authors are: S. K. UPADHYAYA, Assistant Professor, J.
MEHLSCHAU, Senior Development Engineer, D. WULFSOHN and
J. L. GLANCEY, Graduate Assistants, Agricultural Engineering
Dept., University of California, Davis.
Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge with gratitude the
financial support provided by the College of Agriculture and
Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of California,
Davis, which made this device a reality. We also thank the development
engineers and technicians of the Agricultural Engineering Department,
UC Davis, who played an important role in developing this device.
Furthermore, we appreciate the helpful suggestions given by Professor
William J. Chancellor during the development of this machine.
Vol. 29(5):September-October, 1986 © 1986 American Society of Agricultural Engineers 0001-2351/86/2905-1243$02.00
facilities are dedicated to tillage studies, and the rest are
equipped to test wheel traction. Soils used in these bins
range from heavy clay to sand, although loam is the most
common. Some facilities use artificial soils (oil, sand,
clay mixtures). Soil preparation for tests usually involves
tilling, leveling, and packing. About 80 percent of these
bins are indoor bins. About half the facilities are
equipped to control applied draft. Although the soil bin
facilities provide valuable information on soil-tractive
device interaction, the soils used in the bins are remolded
and do not behave like natural soils. This is true even for
outdoor soil bins in which the soil is used over and over.
Instrumented tractors are often used to obtain draft
and energy data for agricultural implements under field
conditions. These units can provide data on tractive force
and tractive efficiency of a tractive device such as a tire or
a track. However, it is difficult to conduct accurately
controlled soil-tire interaction studies using
instrumented tractors because input variables such as
the dynamic load on the axle are uncontrolled and often
uncertain, since they depend on the type of implement
and soil. Moreover, the draft force developed during the
movement of an implement through the soil changes
continuously. Single wheel tire testers have been
developed by the National Soil Dynamics Laboratory
(NSDL), Alabama, and the National Institute of
Agricultural Engineering, U.K., (NIAE). The NSDL
unit was developed for use in outdoor soil bins [Burt et
al., 1980]. The NIAE machine is mounted behind a
tractor and is used for conducting controlled field tests
[Billington, 1973]. Field tests are conducted by setting
the test wheel speed to a desired value and controlling the
tractor speed to generate different levels of slip and
draft. The dynamic load on the test wheel is precisely
controlled.
The main objective of our study is to conduct a
comprehensive study on soil-pneumatic tire interaction.
We have developed mathematical models to describe the
interaction between soil and a pneumatic tire
(Upadhyaya et al., 1984; and Upadhyaya and
Shafigh—Nobari, 1984]. We are currently analyzing
these models. The purpose of the single wheel tester
described in this paper is to provide an experimental
insight into soil-low pressure pneumatic tire interaction.
The experimental data will also be used to verify our
models and to test pneumatic tires for their tractive
characteristics in California soils.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The single wheel tester consists of two 17.7 m long
tracks mounted over front and rear transport wheels
(Fig. 1). The test wheel is mounted on a carriage and is
powered by a hydrostatic drive (Figs. 1 and 2). During
1243
 Fig. 1—An overview of the single wlieel traction testing device.

tests the unit is parked in the desired location and the

crriage moves along the track from back to front, a
distance of 12.2 m. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram
showing the details of our tester. The locations of various
sensors to measure forward speed (6)*, wheel rpm (7),
draft and vertical load (8), torque (9), elevation of
underformed surface (10), axle height (11), and elevation
of deformed surface (12) are also shown in Fig. 3. During
field tests, the vertical load (dynamic weight on the axle)
is set to the desired value by adjusting the pressure in the
load cylinder (5). The design of the support frame for the
test wheel and the pressure control elements in the
vertical load control hydraulic circuit permit the tire to
follow the ground contour while the vertical load on the
axle remains fairly constant.
The unit can be operated in a draft control mode or a
slip control mode. In the draft control mode, the
pressure in the draft control motor circuit is either set to
a desired value or continuously increased until the wheel
slips excessively. In the slip control mode, the slip is
either set to a desired value or continuously changed
from a low value to a high value. In a constant draft
mode or a constant slip mode, several tests will have to be
conducted to cover the whole slip range.
Figure 4 is a schematic of the hydraulic circuit used to
*Numbers in parenthesis refer to numbers shown on Fig. 3.
Fig. 2—A close up view of the carriage showing test tire.
power the test wheel, provide vertical and draft loads,
and provide slip control. The slip control is obtained
through a hydraulic interlock (Fig. 4). Moreover, the
hydraulic circuit also operates a cone penetrometer to
obtain soil cone index data. The hydraulic circuit is
powered by a 6 cylinder, IH engine (model UB 240).
Upadhyaya et al. (1985) have given a full description of
the mechanical, hydraulic, and instrumentation aspects
of this machine.
The tester can be used to test tires ranging in diameter
from 0.46 m (rim ID) to 2 m (OD) and up to a maximum
tire width of 1 m. The system is designed to provide an
infinitely variable vertical load up to a maximum of 26.7
kN and a draft load up to a maximum of 13.3 kN.
The data acquired by various sensors are recorded on a
Campbell Scientific Digital Data Acquisition System
(CR21XL). The digital data are processed by a
microcomputer to provide draft, vertical load, torque,
slip, rut depth, and tire deformation.

1 Hydrostatic Drive Pump

2 Auxilliary Pump
3 Hydrostatic Drive IWotor
4 Draft Pump/IWotor
5 Vertical Load Cylinder
6 Forward Speed Sensor
7 Wheel RPM Sensor
8 Load Cell for Vertical
and Draft Loads
9 Four Bar Parallel
Linkage with Torque
Transducers

Fig. 3—A schematic of the single wheel tester showing the various components of the
machine and the locations of various transducers.

1244
TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE
 Cone Penetrometer Circuit

Mechanical Link

Slip Control System

Circuit

Draft Control Circuit

Fig. 4—Hydraulic circuit diagram for the single wheel tester.

TABLE 1. A TYPICAL VARIATION OF CONE INDEX VERTICAL LOAD

WITH DEPTH
Layer Average cone index, kPa Standard deviation, kPa

0-50 mm 596 291

50-100 mm 774 27.5
100-150 mm 902.5 129.5
150-200 mm 1140 22
200-250 mm 981.5 52

TABLE 2. VARIATION IN THE CONE INDEX VALUES FOR

THE TOP 150 mm OF SOIL ALONG THE TEST COURSE.
Location Average cone index, kPa Standard deviation, kPa Distance (m)

1 Fig. 5—Curves of draft, vertial load and torque for a 12.4-38 tire tested
945
2 750
3 750
4 890
5 845
6 1010
PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS AND TYPICAL
RESULTS
Tests were conducted using a 12.4-38 tire in Yolo clay
loam soil (36.9% sand, 34.2% silt, and 27% clayt), near
the University of California, Davis. The tire inflation
pressure was 103.4 kPa and the tire's outer diameter was
1.51 m. Six cone index values were obtained along the
test track at approximately equal distances. Typical cone
290
225 in the Yolo clay loam soil near the University of California, Davis.
130
210
270 this test are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Note that the draft
285
and vertical load were fairly constant along the test
track. The draft dropped off at the end of the test when
the wheel stopped automatically at the end of the test
course. This drop in draft caused a drop in the torque
also. The data obtained during the first 1.7 m of the test
course are not shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This is the
distance between the rear displacement transducer and
the front displacement transducer. Fig. 6 indicates that
100

index versus depth data are shown in Table 1. Table 2 90

shows the average cone index values and their standard TRACTIVE EFFICIENCY
deviations for the top 150 mm layer of soil at six different
locations along the test track. After the cone index data
were obtained, the test tire was loaded to a 5.5 MPa
vertical load cylinder pressure. The pressure in the draft
control circuit was set to zero MPa, and a no-load test
was run to determine the rolling radius. The rolling
radius was found to be 635 mm. The single wheel tester
was rotated by about ten degrees about the rear support
wheels, the draft control circuit pressure was set at 6.9
MPa, and the traction test was repeated. The results of Distance (m)

Fig. 6—Curves of theoretical speed, actual forward speed, slip, and

tNote that this specification is typical for this area. The soil was not tractive efficiency for a 12.4-38 tire tested in the Yolo clay loam soil
analyzed during this preliminary test. near the University of California, Davis.

Vol. 29(5):September-October, 1986 1245

the carriage speed became stable by the time the tire
traveled a distance of about 2.5 m. The midsection of
these figures represents valuable controlled traction test
data. The section length will vary depending on test
conditions; it is expected to be between 7 to 8 m. These
results indicate that our tire tester can be used to conduct
controlled field tests to study soil-pneumatic tire
interaction in situ.
CONCLUSIONS
Our test results indicate that the unique, mobile,
single wheel tester developed at University of California,
Davis, can be used to conduct controlled in situ studies
of soil-pneumatic tire interaction.
References
1. Billington, W. P. 1973. The NIAE Mkll single wheel tester.
1246
Research Note, J. Agr. Engr. Res. 18:67-70.
2. Burt, E. C , C. A. Reaves and J. F. Taylor. 1980. A machine for
testing tractor tires in soil bins. TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE 23(3):
546-547, 552.
3. Della-Moretta, L. B. and H. C. Hodges. 1983. Off-road
tire/road damage and healing mechanisms. Project record number
8371 1202. USDA Forest Service, Equipment Development Center,
San Dimas, CA.
4. Gill, W. R. and G. E. Vanden Berg. 1968. Soil dynamics in
tillage and traction. Agr. Handbook No. 316, ARS, USDA, 511 p.
5. Upadhyaya, S. K., R. Hamidi, F. Shafigh-Nobari and R. W.
Hooley. 1984. Tractive ability of pneumatic tires: a fmite element
model. ASAE Paper No. 84-1052, ASAE, St. Joseph, MI 49085.
6. Upadhyaya, S. K. and F. Shafigh-Nobari. 1984. Interaction
between soil and low-pressure penumatic tire. ASAE Paper No.
84-1556, ASAE, St. Joseph, MI 49085.
7. Upadhyaya, S. K., J. Mehlschau, D. Wulfsohn, J. L. Glancey.
1985. Development of a unique, mobile, single wheel traction testing
device. ASAE Paper No. 85-1554, ASAE, St. Joseph, MI 49085.
8. Wismer, R. D. 1984. Soil bin facilties: characteristics and
utilization. Proceedings of 8th International Society for Terrain Vehicle
Systems. Vol. HI. 1201-1213.
TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE