ABSTRACT
Human-induced soil compaction has increased dramatically during recent decades, the most important source being wheel traffic by off-road vehicles. Off-road vehicles exert compactive stresses in the soil though their running gear. The magnitude and distribution of the stresses depend on many vehicular and soil factors. Soil compaction generally results in a suboptimal use of crop production inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides or fuel. It increases the demand for tillage and the energy required for each operation. Critical limits have been established for specific plant growth factors affected by compaction. For transport and spreading operations, good planning of the traffic, suitable positioning of entrances to the fields, a large working width, matching the load to the field length, and special transport lanes in large fields, all help to reduce the distance that heavy vehicles move in the fields.
