Thesis (MEng (MechEng))--University of South Australia, 1999

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2008. / "28 April 2008". Includes bibliographical references (p. 87).

No description available.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1956 W47 / Master of Science

Tractors and other self-propelled farm equipment, such as combines, sprayers, and towed grain carts, are often used on public roadways as the primary means for traveling from homestead to homestead or from homestead to a distributer. Increased roadway exposure has led to a growing concern for crashes involving farm equipment on the public roadway. A handful of studies exist examining public roadway crashes involving farm equipment using crash data, but none thus far have evaluated road segment data to identify road-specific risk factors. The objective of this study is to identify if roadway characteristics (traffic density, speed limit, road type, surface type, road width, and shoulder width) affect the risk of a crash involving farm equipment on Iowa public roadways. A retrospective cohort study of Iowa roads was conducted to identify the types of roads that are at an increased risk of having a farm-equipment crash on them. Crash data from the Iowa Department of Transportation (to identify crashes) were spatial linked to Iowa roadway data using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Logistic regression was used to calculate ORs and 95% CL. Out of 319,705 road segments in Iowa, 0.4% segments (n=1,337) had a farm equipment crash from 2005-2011. The odds of having a farm equipment crash were significantly higher for road segments with increased traffic density and speed limit. Roads with an average daily traffic volume of at least 1,251 vehicles were at a 5.53 times greater odds of having a crash than roads with a daily traffic volume between 0-30 vehicles. (CI: 3.90-7.83). Roads with a posted speed limit between 50mph and 60mph were at a 4.88 times greater odds of having a crash than roads with a posted speed limit of 30mph or less. (CI: 3.85-6.20). Specific roadway characteristics such as roadway and shoulder width were also associated with the risk of a crash. For every 5 foot increase in road width, the odds for a crash decreased by 6 percent (CI: 0.89-0.99) and for every 5 foot increase in shoulder width, the odds of a crash decreased by 8 percent. (CI: 0.86-0.98). Although not statically significant, unpaved roads increased the odds of a crash by 17 percent. (CI: 0.91-1.50) Lastly, it was found that Farm to Market routes increased the odds of a crash by two fold compared to local roads (which make up roughly 67 percent of Iowa public roads). (CI: 1.72-2.43) When the same model was stratified by rurality (urban/rural), it was found that high traffic density leads to a higher risk of a crash in rural areas. Iowa routes and Farm to Market routes had a greater odds of a crash in urban than rural areas, and road and shoulder width were more protective in rural than urban areas. When only using roads with a crash involving an injury versus all other roads as the outcome, Iowa routes and roads with increased speed limits had higher odds for an injury-involved crash, while increased road width were more protective against crashes involving injuries. Findings from the study suggest that several roadway characteristics were associated with farm-equipment crashes. Through administrative and engineering controls, the six static explanatory variables used in this study may be modified to decrease the risk of a farm equipment crash. Speed limit can be modified through administrative controls while traffic density, road and shoulder width, road type, and surface type can be modified through engineering controls. Results from this study provide information that will aid policy-makers in developing safer roads for farm equipment.

Thesis--University of Minnesota, 1925. / Vita. Running title: Rural trade centers and farm supplies.

The gain in popularity of freezing as a means of food preservation has created a need for additional refrigeration on the farm. Even with the wide selection of commercial equipment to choose from, many of the units purchased have proven to be inadequate in storage and freezing capacity. A practical solution to the problem of ample capacity and economy of installation and operation, in many cases is the walk-in type farm refrigerator which may be constructed in part by farm labor using locally available materials. Such a unit designed, constructed and extensively tested in the V.P.I. Agricultural Engineering Department. One of the major items in the initial cost of such a farm refrigerator is the installation of the refrigeration equipment. The nature of this type of installation is conductive to very inefficient use of labor, equipment and facilities. If shops equipped for refrigeration work were used to prefabricate the refrigeration equipment the labor could be used more efficiently because, (a) costly time involved in travel to and from the installation would be reduced to a minimum and (b) the assembly would be made in familiar surroundings with all of the necessary tools, equipment and supplies available. Furthermore, the supplier should be able to finish a more trouble-free installation because the assembly could be made under better working conditions and the equipment could be thoroughly inspected and adjusted before being released from the shop. All these advantages for prefabrication should make it possible for the farm operator to ger a more satisfactory installation at less cost. Also, he would have a unit that would be structurally separate from the refrigerator in which it was installed. In case of emergency such a unit could be removed for repair or replacement or for use in other refrigerators. Manufacturers of refrigeration equipment offer integral units for air conditioning installations, for use with milk coolers and in similar applications which have proven highly satisfactory. These units are designed for operation at an evaporator temperature considerably higher than that required in a walk-in refrigerator. While the gasoline powered units designed for operation on refrigerated transport trucks came closer than any of the other units studied to meeting the requirements for use with the walk in farm refrigerator, they were not considered to be fully satisfactory. In all cases commercial equipment currently available would require considerable modification before it could be used. Since the integral refrigeration units used for other purposes have proven satisfactory it seemed feasible that such a unit could be designed and used on a walk-in type farm refrigerator. / Master of Science

M.S.

Data obtained by mail questionnaire and financial statements of sixty-two firms permitted a partial description and analysis of Virginia's retail farm equipment industry. The data were combined and analyzed according to sale. and profit groups. The primary analysis used was comparative analysis. Selected business ratios, sales per employee, and returns to management were computed for each sales group. Analysis of gross margin by departments was made for thirty-three firms by sales groups within and among departments. Among and within analysis of variance was used to test whether statistically significant differences existed among sales groups. Separation of means was used to determine which means were significantly different. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation were calculated to measure the variation among firms. The range, arithmetic mean, and median were also computed. Regression analysis was employed to measure the effects of selected factors on net profits. Wide variations existed in net profits for the sample firms. Evidence of economies of scale was found. There were firms within each sales group which showed substantial profits. However, there were firms within four of the five sales groups which had severe 1osses. Volume of sales, other income, gross margin, operating expenses, advertising, and inventory turnover were statistically significant in explaining the variation in net profits. However, advertising and inventory turnover did not affect net profits as hypothesized. / Master of Science

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.