Influence of tractor balance at fertilizer spreading on winter wheat yield

The rigorous implementation of the European Green Deal, which calls for suitable fertilizer usage, requires attention to technical solutions and accordance. This study was aimed to improve the efficient usage of fertilizers depending on machinery adjustment using the front ballast with a possibility to change its forward distance. The mass of the suspended spreader varies from maximum when it is full of fertilizers to a minimum when it is empty. Variable spreader load unavoidably changes deformations of front and rear tires, which affects the front and rear axis height and tilt angle, and brings trouble, especially during crop fertilizing. Such repetitive uneven crop fertilization arises influence on the crop vegetation and yield. The results of two-year research showed how much winter wheat responds to the unevenly position of the tractor and suspended spreader. The data of biomass and grain yield were collected from 27 variants: when the spreader was full, half full and empty; when the front ballast of the tractor was maximal, middle, and minimal. The biomass of winter wheat was measured three times during vegetation, and cereal fields were harvested on 8 August 2020, and 26 July 2021. Results reveal that the average aboveground biomass of the winter wheat per square meter was lower in the edge plots. The inner and middle plots had 3.8 and 9.1% higher biomass than at edges, at full spreader and lowest ballast. The average underground mass of the winter wheat at the inner and middle plots was 2.5 and 4.2% higher than in the edge plots, where was the greatest fertility inequality. Grain yield was greater in plots where more fertilizer fell, at the inner and middle plots the yield higher by 3.2 and 7.5%, respectively, compared with the edge plots when the spreader was full, and the ballast was lowest. But there were no significant differences between the yield options, when the spreader was half empty and empty at maximal ballast mass.