If you have made the choice to purchase equipment that works well together, then let me be the first to compliment you on your choice of equipment complement. But just what does it mean to choose a good equipment complement?

The phrase "equipment complement" can simply imply that you have enough of every piece of equipment so that you can get the job done. But the word "complement" is often used to describe a "good match." Among the definitions of complement in a recent edition of one of Merriam-Webster's Dictionaries is "something that completes and makes perfect." The word complementary can mean that there is a "precise pairing."

Perfectly-Matched Tractors And Implements Are Efficient
When a tractor is matched to the implement that it pulls, the engine will perform best and fuel efficiency will be maximized. The "precise pairing" of a tractor and an implement will allow the implement to be pulled through the field at an appropriate speed and under a load that will allow the tractor to perform with maximum efficiency. The investment made in both the tractor and the implement is also likely to provide maximum returns for that investment.

A tractor that is too large will result in poorer fuel efficiency. By selecting a higher gear and throttling back, then fuel efficiency can be increased. The tractor may still be heavier than it needs to be; and that can cause more "deep compaction" than necessary. However, you can 1) remove extra weight and 2) remove some air from the tires. Together, these steps will increase performance and reduce compaction.

A tractor that is too small will be unable to pull the implement through the field without gearing way down. A fully loaded tractor at slow speeds can cause premature drive-train wear. The tires will likely be smaller and more weight will be needed. The extra weight will cause more surface compaction; tire pressures will have to be increased, and fuel may be wasted due to the extra slip that is bound to occur under these conditions. There's little that can be done to improve the situation when the implement is just too large for the tractor.

Matched Width Planters, Combines, Sprayers, And Other Equipment Allow Controlled Traffic And Can Control Compaction
The obvious need for matching is for row spacing of planters and combines to be equal, or at least of some multiple, so that crooked driving doesn't cause problems for harvesting row crops. As we begin to adopt precision guidance technology, we could get around the problem as long as we can control the spacing of all rows to within an inch. Better yet, though, precision guidance and a properly selected equipment complement can help keep load bearing tires in the same tracks for every field operation.

Controlled traffic is not only possible, but commonplace in some parts of the world. Controlled traffic can be accomplished by dead reckoning, but we are rapidly approaching an era where precise guidance will become not only very affordable, but a commonplace accessory. This technology will make it a snap to travel only in permanently compacted lanes. Equipment purchases should be planned so that the width of each piece of equipment is precisely paired with other equipment so that all tractors and combines use the same system of tracks.

Permanently compacted lanes, often called "tram lines," have many advantages and very few or no disadvantages as long as we are prepared. Permanently compacted tracks can sometimes even provide a firm surface for us to be in the field with a combine even when the weather did not cooperate. Making ruts in the name of a timely harvest be become a thing of the past. I like that idea. The firm surface of permanent lanes also helps us transmit power to the ground more efficiently, and that reduces fuel consumption.

To farmers, the soil is everything. Under the current system, if you can call it that, nearly every inch of the soil is eventually trampled by a heavily loaded tire over a period of several years. Permanent lanes eliminate that practice and as much as 80 to 90 percent of the soil will never have the life squeezed out of it again. I think it is a choice and I think controlled traffic is a good choice. Continue to squeeze the life out of the soil periodically or give it a fair chance to perform in its natural state. Could compaction problems become just a memory?

Bill Casady
(573) 882-4370