Optimum Location of Steering Wheel for Indian Tractor Operators

Location of steering wheel apart from its design influences the performance of the tractor operator by affecting the operator's comfort and steering effort requirement. Presently, design of steering wheel in Indian tractors is based on ISO/international standard which does not confirm the anthropometry of Indian workers. In this study, efforts have been made to find out the most comfortable combination of angle of steering wheel and its horizontal and vertical distances from SRP in proportion to the stature of majority of Indian tractor operators for enhancing their capabilities of turning the steering wheel. The study revealed that the steering wheel angle of 20 to 25 degree with vertical axis along with a horizontal and vertical position of 39 to 42 percent and 30 percent of the stature of operator, respectively enables him to apply a maximum force of 77.5 to 79.5 NM for operating the steering wheel.