Establishment of safe axle loads for sugarcane soils under varying moisture content

Abstract

Studies were conducted for the establishment of safe axle loads for sugarcane hauling vehicles beyond which detrimental soil compaction would be induced. The treatments involved running a loaded test vehicle in field strips previously chosen at random. Safe loads were established by testing the level of significance of the difference in induced soil compaction between treated and non-treated sections. Working under soil moisture contents of 21.4–27.1% (dry basis), safe axle loads for two 18.4 × 30 tires were found to be 55.6 and 60.0 kN for sandy clay loam and sandy loam soils with initial dry bulk density about 1.434 g/cm3. These corresponded to ground contact pressures of 111 and 120 kPa, respectively.