Technical and Technological Ways to Reduce Soil Compaction to Preserve Its Fertility

Key words: soil compaction; water-air regime, crop; technical and 
technological way; unit passage; multifunctional unit; agricultural machine; heavy 
machinery, undercarriage pressure. 
Introduction. The world fleet of all types of traction-transport-harvesting 
equipment used in the agro-industrial complex is steadily and rapidly developing, 
productivity, power and, as a result, the operating weight of these vehicles is 
growing, which, in turn, leads to excessive soil compaction. The scale of adverse 
impacts on land fertility over the next 30 years could lead to detrimental 
environmental impacts and threats to food security. 
The priority direction for improving the tracked undercarriage system is the 
use of rubber-reinforced tracks [1,2], which are widely used in the designs of tracked 
vehicles abroad. At present, the largest tractor and combine harvester companies: 
John Deere, Caterpillar, Klaas, Case, New Holland and others are conducting 
experimental development and serial production of tractors and combine harvesters 
on rubber-reinforced caterpillars, which makes it possible to reduce the harmful 
effects compared to wheeled vehicles traditional for Western countries. On the soil 
and improve the traction properties of machines.

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The need to reduce labor costs during the intensification of crop production 
has led to an increase in the energy intensity and weight indicators of machine and 
tractor units, while the compacting effect of the running systems of tractors and 
agricultural implements on the soil has increased. This led to a change in the 
agrophysical parameters of the root and subarable soil layers associated with the 
value of the compacting pressure of the wheels on the soil [3, 4]. There are numerous 
data in the literature showing that the shear vertical load on the soil from the 
propellers of wheeled and tracked vehicles leads to a change in the orientation of 
silty lamellar soil particles that change their position in space and cause the 
movement of water and air [5]. The soil is under pressure for a short time, which 
greatly limits the ability to move water, i.e. soil volume decreases and moisture 
content increases [6]. During the growing season, further soil compaction continues, 
therefore, the specific shear resistance also changes depending on changes in soil 
moisture and the action of root systems, which is associated with a change in soil 
fertility and crop yields [7,8].