How it works

This calculator assists by comparing the trafficking percentage of current machinery setups to potential future machinery configurations. This information is helpful for making decisions about machinery investment for minimising the risk of compaction and setting up controlled traffic farming system.

Step 1: Define tractors/machines. Input your various machinery operating widths and tyre information. You can input your own machine or implement details ie seeding tractor,  header etc. or select one from the library. The machines in the library can be altered as required.

Step 2: Define implements. As in step 1 input your implement information either from the library or using your own measurements. Remember if measuring tine to tine on the bar or nozzle to nozzle on the sprayer add one row or nozzle spacing.

Step 3: Configure paddock scenarios. Initially create your current machinery set up to calculate the current trafficked area of the paddock. Then you can run further scenarios changing the operating width, track width, tyre size or types of machinery to calculate a new trafficking percentage.

Step 4: Compare the different machinery configuration scenarios to estimate the benefit of controlling compaction. You can input your own figures for yield and compaction penalty or select a compaction penalty for your representative soil type. The compaction penalties in the program have been collated from research across Australia.