Effect of the tractor traffic and of the tire-soil contact pressure on soil compaction, on a dark red alic latosol, at two moisture contents

Abstract

An experiment was carried out on Dark-Red Alic Latosol at Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil, to verify the soil compaction behavior under different tractor traffic conditions, soil-tire pressure and soil moisture content (0,18 MPa and -0,06 MPa). Soil compaction was determined by the increase in bulk density under the tractor tire tracks. Field compaction was also compared to the Standard Proctor Test. The results indicated that under these conditions there was no significant reduction of the aeration porosity but at the higher moisture level compaction was greater. It was possible to correlate Standard Proctor Curve to field compaction data.