Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Farm tractors'

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 86 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-86).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 1998.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 127 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-92).

This thesis is aimed at identifying the noise sources of a wheeled tractor to reduce the noise levels below the legislative limits by controlling noise sources through proper methodologies. The study focuses firstly on identifying the noise sources of a wheeled tractor by using proper noise source identification techniques. These techniques can be summarized as sound intensity measurements, sound power level determination studies and spectral analysis of the noise data acquired in the tests. Simple sound intensity mapping techniques are used and the intensity contour maps are generated to identify the noise sources. Most important and effective noise sources are identified and the critical noise sources are focused to apply appropriate noise control strategies not only at the prototype production stages but also at the early design stages. Consequently, upon consideration of both structure-borne and flow-induced noise, the pass-by noise level and the operator&rsquo
s ear noise levels of the tractor are reduced by nearly 3 dB (A) through application of proper noise control strategies.

Resumo: Esse trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de comparar o desempenho de um trator equipado com pneus diagonais novos e pneus diagonais desgastados, em três condições de superfície: pista com solo mobilizado, pista com cobertura vegetal e pista com solo firme. Foi utilizado o delineamento experimental em faixas, sendo que em cada faixa (pista) foram dispostos os tratamentos em blocos ao acaso, com um arranjo fatorial de 2x4, definidos pelos dois conjuntos de pneus diagonais (novos e desgastados) e quatro condições de deslocamento, distinguidas pela mudança de marcha do trator, totalizando oito tratamentos, com três repetições cada, perfazendo 72 unidades experimentais. Foram coletados os dados para o cálculo da velocidade de deslocamento, patinagem das rodas traseiras e dianteiras do trator e consumo horário de combustível. Também foram coletados os dados de força de tração, sendo calculada a potência disponível na barra de tração em função da velocidade de deslocamento. Foi utilizado como carro dinamométrico a Unidade Móvel de Ensaio na Barra de Tração - UMEB, pertencente ao Núcleo de Ensaios de Máquinas e Pneus Agroflorestais - NEMPA, do Departamento de Engenharia Rural da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas - FCA da UNESP, Campus de Botucatu - SP. Os resultados mostraram que tanto as condições dos pneus quanto as condições do solo interferiram na capacidade do trator em desenvolver força de tração, sendo o 2 pior desempenho obtido na pista com solo mobilizado. O melhor desempenho do trator foi na pista com solo firme; porém, na pista com cobertura vegetal ocorreram as melhores condições de força de tração do trator em relação ao solo mobilizado, mostrando que a presença da cobertura vegetal entre o rodado e o solo interferiu diretamente na relação rodado/solo. Na pista com solo mobilizado os resultados mostraram que a velocidade foi a menor... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrôncio abaixo)
Abstract: The objective of this work was to compare the performance of a tractor equipped with used and new bias-ply tires, operating in three surface conditions: tillage soil, vegetal covered soil and firm soil. The experimental design were tracks and, in each track, treatments were disposed in blocks to the chance in a 2x4 factorial arrangement, defined by the two groups of tires (used and new bias-ply) and four speed conditions, distinguished by tractor’s gear change, totaling eight treatments, with three repetitions each, completing 72 experimental units. There were collected data to calculate: speed, front and rear tires slippage and fuel consumption. There were also collected data of traction strength to calculate available power at traction bar versus speed. The dynamometric car used was the Mobile Drawbar Test Unit - UMEB, owned by the Facility of Agricultural and Forestry Tires and Machines Assays (NEMPA) of Rural Engineering Department in the Agronomics Science College - FCA, UNESP, Botucatu campus. Results showed that both, tires and soil conditions, changed tractor capacity on developing traction strength. The worst performance was observed on the tillage soil. On the track with soil covered with vegetal residues, occurred better tractor traction strength conditions than on track with tillage soil, showing the presence of vegetal cover between tire and soil interfered directly on the tires/soil relation ship. 4 On the track with tillage soil, results showed that the forward speed was the lowest among the three soil conditions due to the front and rear tires slippage which is higher than vegetal covered and firm soil tracks. Fuel consumption results showed higher values on tilled tracks when comparing with firm and vegetal covered tracks. Data of available power at the drawbar were statistically equal on tilled and vegetal-covered soil tracks... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)
Orientador: Kléber Pereira Lanças
Coorientador: Antonio Gabriel Filho
Banca: Ulisses Rocha Antuniassi
Banca: Alberto Kazushi Nagaoka
Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:11:21Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 jesuino_pr_me_botfca.pdf: 476686 bytes, checksum: b6b3eacddcfc45310d76d3ad06ae705f (MD5)
Esse trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de comparar o desempenho de um trator equipado com pneus diagonais novos e pneus diagonais desgastados, em três condições de superfície: pista com solo mobilizado, pista com cobertura vegetal e pista com solo firme. Foi utilizado o delineamento experimental em faixas, sendo que em cada faixa (pista) foram dispostos os tratamentos em blocos ao acaso, com um arranjo fatorial de 2x4, definidos pelos dois conjuntos de pneus diagonais (novos e desgastados) e quatro condições de deslocamento, distinguidas pela mudança de marcha do trator, totalizando oito tratamentos, com três repetições cada, perfazendo 72 unidades experimentais. Foram coletados os dados para o cálculo da velocidade de deslocamento, patinagem das rodas traseiras e dianteiras do trator e consumo horário de combustível. Também foram coletados os dados de força de tração, sendo calculada a potência disponível na barra de tração em função da velocidade de deslocamento. Foi utilizado como carro dinamométrico a Unidade Móvel de Ensaio na Barra de Tração - UMEB, pertencente ao Núcleo de Ensaios de Máquinas e Pneus Agroflorestais - NEMPA, do Departamento de Engenharia Rural da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas - FCA da UNESP, Campus de Botucatu - SP. Os resultados mostraram que tanto as condições dos pneus quanto as condições do solo interferiram na capacidade do trator em desenvolver força de tração, sendo o 2 pior desempenho obtido na pista com solo mobilizado. O melhor desempenho do trator foi na pista com solo firme; porém, na pista com cobertura vegetal ocorreram as melhores condições de força de tração do trator em relação ao solo mobilizado, mostrando que a presença da cobertura vegetal entre o rodado e o solo interferiu diretamente na relação rodado/solo. Na pista com solo mobilizado os resultados mostraram que a velocidade foi a menor...
The objective of this work was to compare the performance of a tractor equipped with used and new bias-ply tires, operating in three surface conditions: tillage soil, vegetal covered soil and firm soil. The experimental design were tracks and, in each track, treatments were disposed in blocks to the chance in a 2x4 factorial arrangement, defined by the two groups of tires (used and new bias-ply) and four speed conditions, distinguished by tractor s gear change, totaling eight treatments, with three repetitions each, completing 72 experimental units. There were collected data to calculate: speed, front and rear tires slippage and fuel consumption. There were also collected data of traction strength to calculate available power at traction bar versus speed. The dynamometric car used was the Mobile Drawbar Test Unit - UMEB, owned by the Facility of Agricultural and Forestry Tires and Machines Assays (NEMPA) of Rural Engineering Department in the Agronomics Science College - FCA, UNESP, Botucatu campus. Results showed that both, tires and soil conditions, changed tractor capacity on developing traction strength. The worst performance was observed on the tillage soil. On the track with soil covered with vegetal residues, occurred better tractor traction strength conditions than on track with tillage soil, showing the presence of vegetal cover between tire and soil interfered directly on the tires/soil relation ship. 4 On the track with tillage soil, results showed that the forward speed was the lowest among the three soil conditions due to the front and rear tires slippage which is higher than vegetal covered and firm soil tracks. Fuel consumption results showed higher values on tilled tracks when comparing with firm and vegetal covered tracks. Data of available power at the drawbar were statistically equal on tilled and vegetal-covered soil tracks... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

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The introduction of new technologies in plantation fields, such as the use of tractors machines for agricultural activities, brought some problems to operators. The purpose of this research is to analyze the tractors and harvesters agricultural operator s working place in order to avoid security and health problems that the use of new technologies may bring to them. For this research, eight tractors and two harvesters agricultural with average power of 66kw were used. All ten agricultural machines belong to the Universidade Estadual Paulista, city of Botucatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The existing literature regarding to the diversity in ergonomics and agricultural tractors and harvesters was analyzed and discussed. Together with the ergonometry technical parameters and agricultural tractors and harvesters machines themselves, other researches were required such as those related to anthropometry, interface systems - information and action, human tiredness, noise, comfort - seats and conformities, biomechanics - control and handling, working environment and technology. At first, a demand analysis methodology was used by applying individual questionnaires to the operators of the agricultural machines in order to collect information, such as muscular and mental tiredness. The result of the demand analysis revealed the problem, and therefore, the need to apply an Ergonomic Analysis of the Work (AET) by using four approaches of this methodology. The approaches were: anthropometry, biomechanics, comfort and noise. In anthropometry, the method was applied by comparing the anthropometric measures to the measures of eight of the agricultural tractors machine 4 operators and two harvesters. In biomechanics the measures of control and handling location regarding two tractors and one harvester agricultural were taken, in that case, it was necessary a scientific method based on the existing... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: João Eduardo Guarnetti dos Santos
Banca: Luiz Gonzaga Campos Porto
Banca: Marizilda dos Santos Menezes
Banca: Antonio Gabriel Filho
Banca: Jair Rosas da Silva
Abstract: The introduction of new technologies in plantation fields, such as the use of tractors machines for agricultural activities, brought some problems to operators. The purpose of this research is to analyze the tractors and harvesters agricultural operator’s working place in order to avoid security and health problems that the use of new technologies may bring to them. For this research, eight tractors and two harvesters agricultural with average power of 66kw were used. All ten agricultural machines belong to the Universidade Estadual Paulista, city of Botucatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The existing literature regarding to the diversity in ergonomics and agricultural tractors and harvesters was analyzed and discussed. Together with the ergonometry technical parameters and agricultural tractors and harvesters machines themselves, other researches were required such as those related to anthropometry, interface systems - information and action, human tiredness, noise, comfort - seats and conformities, biomechanics - control and handling, working environment and technology. At first, a demand analysis methodology was used by applying individual questionnaires to the operators of the agricultural machines in order to collect information, such as muscular and mental tiredness. The result of the demand analysis revealed the problem, and therefore, the need to apply an Ergonomic Analysis of the Work (AET) by using four approaches of this methodology. The approaches were: anthropometry, biomechanics, comfort and noise. In anthropometry, the method was applied by comparing the anthropometric measures to the measures of eight of the agricultural tractors machine 4 operators and two harvesters. In biomechanics the measures of control and handling location regarding two tractors and one harvester agricultural were taken, in that case, it was necessary a scientific method based on the existing... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)
Doutor

Today’s farmers gut feeling and Fingerspitzengefühl comes from a learning by doing. By year 2025 farmers will have less know-how than today. Foretell supports the farmers in developing their gut feeling and lead more efficient farms. By visualising data, the system provides a comprehensive overview of the farm, both in the tractor, the barn, at the field and in the office. In the transition from running a family farm to become an entrepreneur with an own company has resulted in that the farmers need to supervise the farm’s production but also have control of external conditions. Future farmers needs to quicker become experts. Through research and user studies the system Foretell have been created. Foretell connects the data available today and displays it where it is needed and when it is suitable. The mobile application shows information on the go. While the desktop version gives the user better planning tools. A new precision farming input is added in form of a near-infra-red camera that detects the plants health. With all pieces together Foretell is bringing gut feeling to farmers!

During the operations of an agricultural tractor, front axle and front axle support encounter the worst load conditions of the whole tractor. If the design of these components is not verified by systematic engineering approach, the customers could face with sudden failures. Erkunt Agricultural Machinery Company, which is located in Ankara, has newly designed and manufactured the front axle support of its agricultural tractors. In this study, the design of 2WD (Wheel Drive) Erkunt Bereket Agricultural Tractor&
#8217
s front axle support has been verified by developing a verification method, which involves testing the tractor on a special test track and field and together with the computer aided engineering analysis, in order to prevent such failures in the lifetime of the tractor. For this purpose, a strain gage data acquisition system has been designed to measure the strain values on the component, while the tractor is operating on a test track and field. The locations of the strain gages have been determined by simulating the selected design load cases through finite element method. Measuring the maximum strains for the front axle support that have been experienced by the tractor while operating, the stress values have been calculated and the design safety has been investigated considering the material&
#8217
s tensile strength. Secondly, the fatigue life of the component regarding the acquired strain data has been predicted. These processes have led the company to verify the design of the front axle support.

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 34).
Tractor implements increase the risk of injury by destabilizing the tractor, and therefore they must be designed with caution and mechanical integrity. Tillage tool attachment systems must be designed to determine a tool's maximum depth into the soil and withstand the resulting forces from the soil. The following paper presents a design for an attachment system that incorporates a self-locking rack and pinion jack, load-bearing sliding surfaces, and rack clamp that is used to secure the cultivator sweep. The design is evaluated for deformation and deflection at the maximum theoretical loads using Finite Element Analysis. The design successfully minimizes deflection, but exhibits stresses higher than the material yield stress in a small area. After slight modifications to the bar attachment structure in a future design iteration, the tillage tool design will be ready to test in the field.
by Elizabeth Porter.
S.B.

Injuries to people living and working on farms in New South Wales continue to be a significant burden on the health system, Workers’ Compensation system, agricultural industries and farming families. Strategies to reduce the number and severity of injuries suffered by farmers and people working on farms rely on accurate information. Unfortunately there is no one dataset available to describe the circumstances surrounding farm injuries and the size of this burden in Australia. Hence, a number of different data sources are required to provide a picture of farm injuries. To date, there has been very little critical examination of what value each of these datasets provides to describing farm injuries. This Thesis aimed to: • Undertake surveillance of injuries occurring to people on farms or during agricultural production in NSW using data from an Emergency Department, NSW Hospital Separations information, NSW Workers’ Compensation Claims, and ABS Deaths data. • Critically examine the utility of Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths Data for the surveillance of farm injuries in NSW. • Critically examine data classification systems used in Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths data collections to describe the breadth of farm injuries in NSW. • Define the priority areas for farm injury prevention initiatives in NSW based on the information obtained from the examination of the data from Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths. • Evaluate the effectiveness of the NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) rebate scheme and examine the utility of the data currently available in NSW to measure the performance of the program. Four datasets, Tamworth Emergency Department, Hospital Separations, Workers’ Compensation and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Deaths data were used to provide information on the surveillance of farm injuries, describe the breadth of classifications used to describe farm injuries, and define priorities for the prevention of farm injuries. There were 384 farm-related injuries which presented to the Emergency Department at the Tamworth Base Hospital between 1 September 1997 and 31 August 1998. Emergency Department data collected in this study used the Farm Injury Optimal Dataset (FIOD) for classification, which allowed for a comprehensive picture of the circumstances surrounding the injury event. The three most common external causes of injury were related to horses, motorcycles, and animals. Commonly people were working at the time of injury. Children represented 21% of the people injured. The average number of injuries per 100 farms per annum was 34.7. An examination of hospital discharge data for NSW was undertaken for the period 1 July 1992 to 30 June 2000 where the location of the injury was a farm. Classification of cases in this dataset conformed to the International Classification of Disease (ICD) versions 9 and 10. There were 14,490 people who were injured on a farm during the study period. The three most common external causes of injury were motorcycles, animals being ridden and agricultural machinery. Children represented 17% of all farm injury cases. The rate per 1,000 farms ranged from 19 to 42 per annum. An examination of Workers’ Compensation claims for agricultural industries in NSW between 1 July 1992 and 30 June 2001 was undertaken. The ‘Type of Occurrence’ classification system was used to code the claims. There were 24,332 claims of which the majority were males (82%). The incidence of injury / disease in agriculture per annum varied from 37 per 1,000 workers to 73 per 1,000 workers. The rate per 1,000 agricultural establishments varied from 54 to 76. The average cost of a claim was $10,880 and the average time lost per claims was 9.2 weeks. There were 81 deaths and 3,158 permanent disabilities. The three most common agents were sheep / goats (5%), ferrous and non-ferrous metals (5%), crates / cartons / boxes / etc (5%). Using ABS deaths data to examine the deaths of people working and living on farms was limited to males whose occupation was recorded as ‘farmer and farm manager’ and ‘agricultural labourer and related worker’. There were 952 deaths over the period 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2000. The information provided a consistent series of cases over time. Areas where prevention should be directed included motor vehicle accidents; falls; agricultural machinery; other machinery; firearms; poisoning; and drowning. Using any one of the datasets alone to examine people injured on farms not only underestimates the number of people injured, but also misses particular types of agents involved in farm injuries. Each of the datasets used in this Thesis provides a different perspective of farm injury in NSW. By examining the information together, there are a number of areas which are consistently represented in each dataset such as falls and agricultural machinery. While no one dataset provided all the information that would be useful for the prevention of injuries, the available information does provide direction for the development of prevention strategies. The overall weakness of the information provided is that it misses a number of risk factors that contribute to farm injuries such as fatigue and training. The lack of appropriate denominator information also makes it difficult to directly compare the datasets and estimate the size of the problem. There are a number of additional coding categories that could be included in each dataset that would provide a better understanding of the different groups at risk of sustaining an injury on a farm or during agricultural work. These coding categories include activity at time of injury, admission to hospital, and occupation. An example of the use of data to determine the effectiveness of a farm injury prevention program is the ‘NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) Rebate Scheme’ evaluation. Tractor rollover deaths have been identified as an issue for prevention by Farmsafe Australia; however, such deaths were not identified in any of the datasets used in this Thesis due to coding limitations in the ABS data. In this Thesis information about the evaluation of the ‘NSW ROPS Rebate Scheme’ is presented. The scheme was successful in fitting 10,449 ROPS to tractors and the following lessons were learnt: when providing a rebate, the administration (i.e. sending the cheque) needs to be done well; advertising is important and should be co-ordinated, increase the awareness of the risk(s) the intervention is aiming to prevent and effectiveness of subsequent solution (s); the program should ensure there is an increased awareness of the outcome the intervention is aiming to prevent; if regulation is part of the program, enforcement needs to undertaken; and should address any barriers to uptake. The information provided in this Thesis highlights the substantial burden that farm injury places on the agricultural and rural sector of NSW. While there is no one data source that can describe the circumstances and the burden of farm injuries, the currently available datasets do provide an insight into the circumstances of farm injuries and the burden these injuries place on health, Workers’ Compensation, agricultural industries and farming families.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Injuries to people living and working on farms in New South Wales continue to be a significant burden on the health system, Workers’ Compensation system, agricultural industries and farming families. Strategies to reduce the number and severity of injuries suffered by farmers and people working on farms rely on accurate information. Unfortunately there is no one dataset available to describe the circumstances surrounding farm injuries and the size of this burden in Australia. Hence, a number of different data sources are required to provide a picture of farm injuries. To date, there has been very little critical examination of what value each of these datasets provides to describing farm injuries. This Thesis aimed to: • Undertake surveillance of injuries occurring to people on farms or during agricultural production in NSW using data from an Emergency Department, NSW Hospital Separations information, NSW Workers’ Compensation Claims, and ABS Deaths data. • Critically examine the utility of Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths Data for the surveillance of farm injuries in NSW. • Critically examine data classification systems used in Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths data collections to describe the breadth of farm injuries in NSW. • Define the priority areas for farm injury prevention initiatives in NSW based on the information obtained from the examination of the data from Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths. • Evaluate the effectiveness of the NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) rebate scheme and examine the utility of the data currently available in NSW to measure the performance of the program. Four datasets, Tamworth Emergency Department, Hospital Separations, Workers’ Compensation and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Deaths data were used to provide information on the surveillance of farm injuries, describe the breadth of classifications used to describe farm injuries, and define priorities for the prevention of farm injuries. There were 384 farm-related injuries which presented to the Emergency Department at the Tamworth Base Hospital between 1 September 1997 and 31 August 1998. Emergency Department data collected in this study used the Farm Injury Optimal Dataset (FIOD) for classification, which allowed for a comprehensive picture of the circumstances surrounding the injury event. The three most common external causes of injury were related to horses, motorcycles, and animals. Commonly people were working at the time of injury. Children represented 21% of the people injured. The average number of injuries per 100 farms per annum was 34.7. An examination of hospital discharge data for NSW was undertaken for the period 1 July 1992 to 30 June 2000 where the location of the injury was a farm. Classification of cases in this dataset conformed to the International Classification of Disease (ICD) versions 9 and 10. There were 14,490 people who were injured on a farm during the study period. The three most common external causes of injury were motorcycles, animals being ridden and agricultural machinery. Children represented 17% of all farm injury cases. The rate per 1,000 farms ranged from 19 to 42 per annum. An examination of Workers’ Compensation claims for agricultural industries in NSW between 1 July 1992 and 30 June 2001 was undertaken. The ‘Type of Occurrence’ classification system was used to code the claims. There were 24,332 claims of which the majority were males (82%). The incidence of injury / disease in agriculture per annum varied from 37 per 1,000 workers to 73 per 1,000 workers. The rate per 1,000 agricultural establishments varied from 54 to 76. The average cost of a claim was $10,880 and the average time lost per claims was 9.2 weeks. There were 81 deaths and 3,158 permanent disabilities. The three most common agents were sheep / goats (5%), ferrous and non-ferrous metals (5%), crates / cartons / boxes / etc (5%). Using ABS deaths data to examine the deaths of people working and living on farms was limited to males whose occupation was recorded as ‘farmer and farm manager’ and ‘agricultural labourer and related worker’. There were 952 deaths over the period 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2000. The information provided a consistent series of cases over time. Areas where prevention should be directed included motor vehicle accidents; falls; agricultural machinery; other machinery; firearms; poisoning; and drowning. Using any one of the datasets alone to examine people injured on farms not only underestimates the number of people injured, but also misses particular types of agents involved in farm injuries. Each of the datasets used in this Thesis provides a different perspective of farm injury in NSW. By examining the information together, there are a number of areas which are consistently represented in each dataset such as falls and agricultural machinery. While no one dataset provided all the information that would be useful for the prevention of injuries, the available information does provide direction for the development of prevention strategies. The overall weakness of the information provided is that it misses a number of risk factors that contribute to farm injuries such as fatigue and training. The lack of appropriate denominator information also makes it difficult to directly compare the datasets and estimate the size of the problem. There are a number of additional coding categories that could be included in each dataset that would provide a better understanding of the different groups at risk of sustaining an injury on a farm or during agricultural work. These coding categories include activity at time of injury, admission to hospital, and occupation. An example of the use of data to determine the effectiveness of a farm injury prevention program is the ‘NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) Rebate Scheme’ evaluation. Tractor rollover deaths have been identified as an issue for prevention by Farmsafe Australia; however, such deaths were not identified in any of the datasets used in this Thesis due to coding limitations in the ABS data. In this Thesis information about the evaluation of the ‘NSW ROPS Rebate Scheme’ is presented. The scheme was successful in fitting 10,449 ROPS to tractors and the following lessons were learnt: when providing a rebate, the administration (i.e. sending the cheque) needs to be done well; advertising is important and should be co-ordinated, increase the awareness of the risk(s) the intervention is aiming to prevent and effectiveness of subsequent solution (s); the program should ensure there is an increased awareness of the outcome the intervention is aiming to prevent; if regulation is part of the program, enforcement needs to undertaken; and should address any barriers to uptake. The information provided in this Thesis highlights the substantial burden that farm injury places on the agricultural and rural sector of NSW. While there is no one data source that can describe the circumstances and the burden of farm injuries, the currently available datasets do provide an insight into the circumstances of farm injuries and the burden these injuries place on health, Workers’ Compensation, agricultural industries and farming families.

CNPq
As transformações que as indústrias vêm passando são uma representação de um novo período industrial também conhecido como Indústria 4.0. Neste cenário de inovações, os conceitos relacionados à Manufatura Inteligente fazem com que haja uma busca constante pela captura do conhecimento visando aprimorar a eficiência de produtos e processos. Portanto, alterações no projeto de produtos voltadas para a melhoria da confiabilidade devem ser realizadas nas etapas inicias do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) para que os impactos técnicos e econômicos sejam reduzidos. É neste contexto que a abordagem Design for Reliability (DfR) surge como o conjunto de atividades que tem como intuito garantir a confiabilidade de um produto durante todas as etapas do seu ciclo de vida. Analisando as pesquisas mais recentes acerca do assunto e informações fornecidas por uma empresa de maquinários agrícolas, observou-se que em nenhum caso houve uma implementação do DfR nas etapas iniciais do PDP para determinação do plano de testes a partir do perfil de uso de algum produto. Dessa forma, estabeleceu-se o objetivo desta pesquisa de acordo com a elaboração de um método, baseado em um modelo ontológico, que permita a determinação do plano de testes eficaz e adequado às características de uso dos produtos. Para que esse método fosse desenvolvido, a abordagem metodológica Design Science Research (DSR) foi adotada. Dessa maneira, seis etapas tiveram de ser percorridas: 1) identificação do problema e motivação; 2) definição dos objetivos e solução; 3) projeto e desenvolvimento; 4) demonstração; 5) avaliação e 6) comunicação dos resultados. A solução reproduzida atende as necessidades dos usuários por ser um método eficiente e de simples execução, bem como aprimora a confiabilidade dos produtos ao longo do ciclo de vida. Este trabalho pode ser aplicado no processo de criação de diversos produtos trazendo vantagens significativas para empresas.
The transformations that the industries are currently facing represent a new industrial period also known as Industry 4.0. In this scenario of innovations, concepts related to Smart Manufacturing make a constant search for knowledge capture to improve the efficiency of products and processes. Therefore, changes in product design aiming the improvement of reliability should be undertaken from the early stages of the New Product Development process (NPD) to reduce technical and economical impacts. It is in this context that the Design for Reliability (DfR) approach emerges as the set of activities that aims to ensure the reliability of a product during all stages of its life cycle. Analyzing the most recent research on the subject and some information provided by an agricultural machinery company, it was not observed any case of implementation of DfR in the initial stages of the NPD to determine the test plan taking into consideration the product usage profile. Thence, the main goal of this research was established according to the elaboration of a method, based on an ontological model, which allows the determination of the more appropriate test plan considering the usage characteristics of products. In order to develop this method, the methodological approach Design Science Research (DSR) was adopted. In this way, six stages had to be covered: 1) problem identification and motivation; 2) definition of objectives and solution; 3) design and development; 4) demonstration; 5) evaluation and 6) communication of results. The final solution meets users' needs by being an efficient and easy-to-run method, as well as by enhancing products’ reliability throughout their lifecycle. This work can be applied in the process of creating several products bringing significant advantages to companies.

During monitoring of rear-mounted equipment, frequent rearward turning of tractor drivers in awkward postures can cause musculoskeletal disorders related to the back, neck, and shoulders. A camera-based monitoring system, consisting of one or more cameras placed on the implement and a monitor placed inside the tractor cab, has potential ergonomic benefits compared with traditional implement monitoring strategies by reducing the rearward turning and twisting movements of tractor drivers. A camera-based monitoring system was compared with two traditional monitoring strategies (direct looking and using rear-view mirrors) in a lab environment using a Tractor Air-Seeder Driving Simulator. The operator’s reaction time and response errors, head/neck movement (acceleration), and neck muscle temperature were compared for the three monitoring strategies. The camera-based monitoring system yielded significantly (α=0.05) better outcomes in terms of acceleration and muscle temperature values. No significant difference was observed for response errors.

Farm machinery is a vital input for production agriculture and, as a result, is a significant part of the agricultural economy. Despite its great importance, there has been relatively little academic analysis on the driving forces behind farm machinery sales over the past several decades. The studies that do evaluate farm machinery sales all do so regarding annual sales despite shorter-term sales data being available. These previous studies primarily use traditional macroeconomic variables, tailored to the agricultural industry, to explain farm machinery sales. Recently, with the creation of the Ag Economy Barometer Survey in October 2015, farmer sentiment data is being collected. Studies using consumer sentiment data to evaluate consumer demand have found sentiment data useful when including it in demand models, especially for consumer durable goods. This study evaluates farm machinery sales, specifically two-wheel-drive tractors with 100 horsepower or higher, using both traditional macroeconomic variables and farmer sentiment data. The evaluation begins by looking at annual tractor sales from 1978 to 2019 using machinery prices, prices received for outputs, prices paid for inputs, lagged net farm income, interest rates for loans specifically for farm machinery, farm assets, and the number of acres harvested. The annual models are used to derive elasticities with respect to farm tractor sales, and the quantity demanded is most responsive to changes in machinery prices, the number of acres harvested, prices received for crops and livestock, and the level of farm assets. Out-of-sample estimations aids in evaluating the forecasting power of the models with the best statistical fit. The model with the best out-ofsample performance forecasts 2020 sales of farm tractors with 100 HP and above using various assumptions for agricultural economic conditions in 2020. The model estimates a record low in tractor sales dating back to 1978. The annual models are then re-estimated using quarterly data spanning from 2009 to 2019. The quarterly models have less statistical fit than their annual counterparts. This reduced model performance is likely due to the seasonal nature of farm tractor sales and that some of the explanatory variables are only updated on an annual basis, limiting their ability to capture the seasonal variations. Finally, the quarterly models are estimated again to include farmer sentiment data. At the time of the study, only 17 quarterly observations of farmer sentiment data had been collected, significantly limiting the evaluation. The limited number of observations results in an inconclusive outcome regarding the explanatory power of farmer sentiment data.

M. Tech. Agriculture
Shortly after World War two (WWII), the South African government responded to the mounting food production crisis in the homelands by introducing public tractor services. Establishment of irrigation schemes and provision of public tractor services for use by smallholders were two important government-initiated modernisation projects in the homelands. It was in line with the idea of modernisation that smallholder irrigation schemes were the prime target for public tractor services, and this lead to the rapid abandonment of the use of animal draught for cultivation on these schemes. By the time public tractor services were completely dismantled, cultivation on smallholder irrigation schemes had become almost entirely dependent on tractor draught. Thereafter, hiring the services of privately owned tractor enterprises became the principal way in which farmers on smallholder irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province cultivated their plots. The rising cost of hiring private tractors placed financial stress on the cropping enterprises of smallholder irrigators, generating interest in alternatives that were more affordable. Animal draught represents an attractive alternative to tractor draught. Whereas prevailing economic circumstances on smallholder irrigation schemes favour the adoption of cultivation systems that are cheaper than those offered by private tractor enterprises, it is not known whether animal draught land preparation enterprises are an appropriate alternative to the existing tractor enterprises from an economic and social perspective. In order to resolve this knowledge problem, the current study was done with the following two main objectives: to determine the profitability of the different types of land preparation enterprises operating on smallholder canal irrigation schemes in Vhembe District Municipality; and to determine the social acceptability of these different types of land preparation enterprises by measuring the perceptions of the quality of the cultivation services provided by these enterprises among plot holders on these schemes.