Experiment No: 07

Name of the experiment: Study on Power Transmission System of Tractor.

Objectives: To become familiar with the power transmission system of tractor.

Power transmission system of a tractor:

Transmission is a speed reducing mechanism, equipped with several gears. It may be called a
sequence of gears and shafts, through which the engine power is transmitted to the tractor
wheels. The system consists of various devices, which cause forward and backward
movement of tractor to suit different field conditions. The complete path of power from
engine to wheel is called power train.

Fig: Power Transmission system of Tractor

Tractor power transmission involves in transmitting the engine power to the drive wheels or
track of a tractor.

The power transmission system consists of:

1. Clutch

2. Gear box

3. Differential mechanism

4. Final drive

5. Differential lock

6. Power takes off (PTO Shaft)

Functions of power transmission system:

1. To transmit power from the engine to the rear wheels of the tractor

2. To make reduced speed available, to rear wheels of the tractor

3. To alter the ratio of wheel speed and engine speed in order to suit the field conditions

4. To transmit power through right angle drive, because the crankshaft and rear axle are
normally at right angles to each other.

5. For reversing the direction of travel.

Working Principle of Different Components:

1. Clutch:

Clutch is a device, used to connect and disconnect the tractor engine from the transmission
gears and drive wheels. Clutch transmits power by means of friction between driving
members and driven members.

Necessity of clutch in a tractor: Clutch in a tractor is essential for the following reasons:

(i) Engine needs cranking by any suitable device. For easy cranking, the engine is
disconnected from the rest of the transmission unit by a suitable clutch. After starting the
engine, the clutch is engaged to transmit power from the engine to the gearbox.

(ii) In order to change the gears, the gearbox must be kept free from the engine power,
otherwise the gear teeth will be damaged and engagement of gear will not be perfect. This
work is done by a clutch.

(iii) When the belt pulley of the tractor works in the field it needs to be stopped without
stopping the engine. This is done by a clutch.

Fig: Clutch
Types of Clutches:

Types of clutches used on farm tractors include:

1. Disk type 2. Over-running type 3. Cone type

Disk-type Clutches:

The disc clutch can be either

-Dry (operates dry) or Wet (operates in oil bath or spray)

The two main components of the dry disk clutch are the pressure plate and the clutch disk or
plate. Most common tractors have single disk clutch but some large tractors use more than
one clutch disk to carry the torque of the engine.

Single Disc Type Clutch

The single disc clutch is a dry type clutch. Its

driven plate is held against the flywheel by
means of spring loaded pressure plate.

When the clutch pedal is depressed release

fingers push the pressure plate back against
the spring pressure, thus releasing the pressure
from the clutch plate. Then the clutch plate
stops, whereas the flywheel continues to
rotate.

When the clutch pedal is released, the pressure

plate forces the clutch plate against the
flywheel with sufficient force to cause the
clutch plate and flywheel to turn together as
one unit.

2. Gear Box ( Transmission gears):

Common gears used on tractors are of two types:

1. Selective sliding type

2. Constant mesh type.

(i) Selective sliding type: The gear box consists of:

(i) Gear housing (ii) Gear shifting lever (iii) Main shaft or input shaft

(iv) Output shaft and (v) Lay shaft or counter shaft.

 Fig: Transmission gears

A number of gears are mounted on these shafts (Fig). The main shaft is directly connected to
the clutch and carries gears. The gears are liable to slide. The gears are shifted with the help
of shifting lever and shifting fork.

Fig : Sliding type gearbox for 4 speeds

The gears are shifted along the shaft, to which they are splinted to engage with another gear
as and when desired to connect the power train. The gears are of different diameters having
different number of teeth. Speed is reduced in proportion to the number of teeth provided on
the gears.

3. Differential:

Differential unit is a special arrangement of gears to permit one of the rear wheels of the
tractor to rotate slower or faster than the other. While turning the tractor on a curved path,
the inner wheel has to travel lesser the tractor to move faster than the other at the turning
point. The output shaft coming from the gear box is provided with a bevel pinion at the
 end of the shaft. The bevel pinion is in mesh with a large bevel wheel known as crown
wheel. The main functions of crown wheel assembly are:

1. To transmit power through right angle drive to suit the tractor wheels

2. To reduce the speed of rotation.

The differential unit consists of:

(i) Differential casing (ii) Differential pinion (iii) Crown wheel

(iv) Half shaft and (v) Bevel gear.

Differential Operation:

 When a tractor moving straight ahead, both wheels rotated at the same speed.
 Power from transmission output is applied to pinion gear and rotate the ring gear.
 Four bevel pinions and two bevel side gears are carried around by the ring gear and all
rotated as a unit.
 Both axle receive equal input and output both wheels turns at the same speed.
 When the tractor is being turned to the right or right gear, wheel is held stationary by
individual wheel brake.
 Power from the transmission is applied to the pinion gear and rotated the ring gear
carrying the bevel pinions around with it.
 However, because the right hand axle is held stationary, the bevel period are forced to
rotates on their own axis and thus “walk around” the right hand bevel gear.
 As a result, when the drive wheels encounter unequal resistance, wheels with less
resistance turn more. As one wheel turn faster, the other slow by the same amount.

4. Final drive:

Final drive is a gear reduction unit in the power trains between the differential and the drive
wheels. Final drive transmits the power finally to the rear axle and the wheels.

Fig: Final drive

Location of Final Drives

 On large machines, the final drives are mounted near the drive wheels
 On others they are mounted on the inboard ends of the axle shafts.

Types of Final Drive

1. Pinion 2. Planetary 3. Chain

Pinion Drives:

A spur gear and pinion are used for the final gear reduction on many tractor.

This allows the differential transmit power at high speed and lower torque.

5. Differential lock:

Differential lock is a device to join both half axles of the tractor so that even if one wheel is
under less resistance, the tractor comes out from the mud etc as both wheels move with the
same speed and apply equal traction.

6. PTO Shaft (Power take off):

It is a part of tractor transmission system. It consists of a shaft, a shield and a cover. The shaft
is externally splined to transmit tortional power to another machine. A rigid guard fitted on a
tractor covers the power-take-off shaft as a safety device. The guard is called power take off
shield. As per ASAE standards PTO speed is 540+ 10 rpm when operating under load. In
order to operate 1000 rpm PTO drive machine, a new standard has been developed.

Fig: PTO on a tractor and PTO drive