The tractor performs agricultural operations in an uneven environment by attaching the implement to a 3-point hitch. Therefore, continuous load is generated on the 3-point hitch connected to the attachment and the tractor, result in fatigue and plasti...
The tractor performs agricultural operations in an uneven environment by attaching the implement to a 3-point hitch. Therefore, continuous load is generated on the 3-point hitch connected to the attachment and the tractor, result in fatigue and plastic failure. In this study, a dynamic simulation model was developed to predict the load occurring on the eyebolt of the 3-point hitch, which is the main damaged component. The development of the dynamics model was performed using the specifications of the 78 kW class tractor. Traction load of the 3-point hitch was measured by plow tillage operation. the average traction loads on the left and right sides of the lower link, and top link were approximately 8,099.97, 4,943.06, and 636.11 N, respectively. The simulation and measured average load of the left eyebolt were about 610.30 and 597.15 N, respectively. In the case of the right eyebolt, the simulation and measured average load of about 1,179.78, and 1,145.06 N, respectively. The simulation and measured load the error was similar accounting for about 2% on the left eyebolt and 3% on the right eyebolt. We plan to conduct damage analysis and reliability study in various agricultural operations.