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Factors affecting the measurements of draught force, work output and power of oxen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. R. Lawrence  and
R. Anne Pearson
P. R. Lawrence
Affiliation:
Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Easter Bush, Roslin, EH25 9RG, Scotland
R. Anne Pearson
Affiliation:
Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Easter Bush, Roslin, EH25 9RG, Scotland
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Summary

Measurements were taken of the draught force, speed and power of three pairs of oxen performing a variety of tasks for long (30 sec) or short (5 sec) periods. True draught force was measured by integrating the force exerted with respect to distance (DADF) and apparent draught force by integrating with respect to time (TADF). The latter type of measurement is that normally obtained from commercially available dynamometers.

In the first experiment short TADF measurements were found to be greater and more variable than long DADF measurements by up to 38% for a variety of jobs. In the second and third experiments in which TADF and DADF were measured completely simultaneously, TADF was nearly always larger than DADF, and the difference tended to be greater with large or jerky loads and smaller, less experienced oxen.

For any given task, the observed variability in replicate measurements of draught force or power was substantially reduced by using long rather than short measurements. However, this effect was not observed in the case of speed of travel.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 105 , Issue 3 , December 1985 , pp. 703 - 714
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

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