The objective of this study was to compare the performance of the FWD agricultural tractor, equipped with three types of tires (bias ply, radial and low pressure), with and without tire water ballasting, operating in four forward speed. The research was carried out at UNESP, SP, Brazil, with the tractor pulling a chisel plow. A tractor with 89kW (121cv) engine power equipped with FWD, was used in the experiment, and the tires used had the following characteristics: radial (front: 14.9R26 and rear: 620/75R30), bias ply (front: 14.9-26 and rear: 23.1-30) and low pressure (front: 500/60-26.5 and rear: 700/55-34). The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block, design (3x2x4), with 24 treatments and three replications. The results evidenced advantages for the tractor equipped with radial tires.
chiseling; ballating; soil tillage
