SESSION 2 Official Testing and Evaluation of Tractors and Implements

SESSION 2 Official testing and evaluation of tractors and implements: a tool to assist farmers in assessing performance, safety and environmental factors Chairman : Uri M. Peiper, Israel 123 Uri M. PEIPER Israel it is all in here! Since then we have all gone a little grey - those of us who still have Good morning to you, and thank you Prof. something to go grey! We have all gained a Pellizzi for the pleasure and honour of lot of weight and some experience since that chairing this meeting. I recall that many many time. So it is really my pleasure to chair this years ago, back in 1970, it was actually meeting on the testing of agricultural through testing of agricultural machinery that machinery, a topic which I worked on for over the two of us first met. And just as a little 20 years before changing job. So without souvenir I have brought along some papers, losing too much time I would like to call on including your very short CV from that time, the first keynote speaker - Mr. Takahashi. 124 Generality of the official testing 1.3 Supporting development and system for agricultural machinery improvement From the standpoint of the party supplying the by Hiroyuki Takahashi machinery, official testing means an JAPAN evaluation conducted by an impartial and neutral third party. This makes it possible to carry out final checking of a given 1. Role and objectives of official testing manufacturer's product and compare it with products from other manufacturers, as well 1.1 Elimination of poor quality products detecting defects and weak points that were not identified by the manufacturer himself In the initial stages of the agricultural before mass production and sales, thereby mechanisation process, many poorly designed contributing to better development and and poorly manufactured machines may be improvement with less risk. In particular, put on the market. This situation poses serious official testing agencies are very helpful not problems at both the individual and the only in evaluating the products of small sized national level. Official testing of agricultural manufacturers, who have very limited machinery was started with the primary facilities and capabilities to adequately test objective of eliminating poorly designed and their machinery, but also in promoting the poorly manufactured machinery. It must development and improvement of their however be remembered that, at the same products. The support provided to those time, testing tends to upgrade the technical manufacturers ultimately results in the level on the manufacturer’s side, thereby development of machinery of superior quality, contributing to marked improvements in the and that brings about indirect benefits to performance and durability of agricultural farmers. machinery. 1.4 Facilitating trade both domestically and 1.2 Guiding appropriate choice and use abroad Nowadays, agricultural machinery is essential From the standpoint of manufacturers and for farm operations, and huge sums are dealers, passing impartial and neutral testing invested every year on this kind of production means obtaining an authoritative official equipment. Moreover, the machinery is certificate regarding safety and performance. becoming very complex and sophisticated, This is advantageous not only for marketing and the same time many new models of purposes, but also contributes to suppressing machinery are being developed. So exaggerated advertising and unfair manufacturers offer various models of any competition. Moreover, international testing given type of machine. This being the case, is useful for eliminating technical barriers choosing appropriate machinery which between different countries and facilitating matches farming and crop/soil conditions, trade of agricultural machinery on the including economic efficiency, and using the international marketplace. machinery efficiently and safely, is a matter of the utmost interest not only to farmers but to society as a whole. IAM-BRAIN does not 1.5 Securing labour safety and hygiene directly guide or help farmers in choosing appropriate machinery, but plays a role by In connection with the prevention of accidents providing data about machinery test results and health problems associated with for this purpose. agricultural machinery, it can be said that official testing related to the safety and hygiene aspects of agricultural machinery 125 greatly contributes to the development and tests. Therefore, the test is carried out on a diffusion of safe machinery. single unit which represents the entire series of the same machine, and the test results and model approval are valid for all machines that 1.6 Promoting environmental conservation are identical to the model tested. The test and energy saving results are made public by the Ministry of Official testing is becoming ever more Agriculture, forestry and Fisheries, with the important on a global scale for the purposes of exception of the “confidential” group 2 tests. suppressing the exhaust gases produced by agricultural machinery, alleviating the influence exerted by pesticides and fertilisers 2.3 National Test on the environment, promoting energy Objective - The National test not only has the conservation, and preserving the environment. purpose of suppressing sales of poor quality products through the adoption of an In Table 1 are summarized the objectives of approval/rejection system, but also promotes the official testing in Japan. the objectives set out below by clarifying the performance and characteristics of machines 2. Tests being performed by IAM-BRAIN through the execution of the test: 2.1 Types • to provide farmers with information related to the appropriate selection and Currently, IAM-BRAIN is conducting the purchasing of machinery, as well as to its following types of tests (Table 2): safe and efficient use; • national test; • to assist manufacturers in the • group 1 test of IAM test; improvement and development of machinery. • group 2 test of IAM test; Types of machines covered by the test - The • safety test; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and • OECD test. Fisheries determines which types of machinery are to be tested in each fiscal year, and this information is published in the 2.2 Generalities Official Government Gazette. The status of All the test mentioned above are non- agricultural mechanisation, the importance of compulsory. They are carried out on request, each machine type and its degree of diffusion and anyone may apply for the testing. are taken into consideration when determining Generally speaking, however, the application the types of machinery (Table 3). is submitted by the manufacturer or, in the Test procedures - The tests are carried out in case of an imported product, by its dealer. conformity with test codes defined for each Applications are accepted at any time, except type of machine by the Ministry of for field tests and those subject to restrictions Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the imposed by the crop and the season. The tests comprehensively evaluate the actual costs are borne by the applicant. In this performance, construction, durability, ease of case, “actual costs” means the total of all the handling, safety and other relevant aspects, expenses incurred to carry out the test, and through laboratory and/or field tests. includes honoraria, payroll, travel expenses, Tractors - Some of the testing procedures expendables, transportation expenses, etc. of the National test for tractors are A machine entered for testing must represent common with those of the OECD test. the production model, excluding the Therefore, certain test items can be prototypes and components/parts of Group 2 126 omitted if the tractor has already been working efficiency test measures the time tested with the OECD test code, and the taken to harvest a crop in a regulated area. test results of the OECD test can be Grain losses consist of “head loss”, the substituted for those of the National test. grain left on the ground during harvesting, This reduces the burden on the applicant “threshing loss”, the grain exhausted with and facilitates the trade of agricultural stalk after threshing and “sorting loss”, the machinery. However, the National and grain exhausted with chaff after sorting. In OECD test codes are not perfectly in the case of testing on paddies or wheat, if accord, and the National test includes the total grain loss is more than 3 % of the certain unique test items which are not total harvested grain, the machine is regulated by the OECD test (Table 4). rejected by the National test. In the case of testing on soybean, the numerical criteria At present, certain durability tests are not of grain loss is not regulated because grain included in the National test because the loss is easily influenced by conditions of performance of engines and transmission moisture content, etc. systems has been previously established, and in this way the time spent on testing is In working accuracy tests the quality of reduced. Likewise, drawbar performance the harvested grain is also checked. If 1% tests with additional weight are not of material other than grain or 1% of included in the National test because the mechanically damaged grain is included in measurement without additional ballast the total harvested grain, then the tested can provide a rough prediction of machine is rejected. performance with additional ballast. In Japan, the fields of individual farmers The waterproofing test is one of the tests are relatively small, so in combine that is unique to Japan.

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