An expert system for tractor selection according to farm conditions

29th Congress of CIOSTA-CIGR V -- JUN 25-27, 2001 -- KRAKOW, POLANDWOS: 000183079300030Tractor is one of the most important input in the agricultural farms. Sizes and types of the tractors must be suitable for the farm conditions in order to achieve an economical agricultural production. In this study, firstly, essential factors for the tractor selection which are considered by the farm managers were determined in the conditions of Cukurova Region which has the main productive agricultural fields in Turkey. Secondly, an expert system assisting the farmer in tractor selection was developed based on these factors and farm conditions such as farm size, growing technique, crop pattern, soil and field conditions. Visual BASIC programming language was used to develop the software of the expert system for Windows 95 or later versions. In conclusion, it was found that tractor engine power, number of the service and maintenance stations, number of the spare part delivers, purchasing price, fuel consumption, forward speed and type of the 2WD or 4WD were the most important factors for the selection of the farm tractors. In the validation test of the expert system, accuracy of the results was high enough. Developed expert system provides a list of tractors which are scored and the best suited the farmer for the farm conditions. It is possible to run this software for any other region over the world, providing that data set explained and determined in this study can pick up for mentioned region.Agr Univ Cracow, Polish Acad Sci, Agr Engn Comm, Polish Assoc Agr Eng