• The total owning and operating cost (RM/ha) of PADITRAK fitted with a 1.8 m rotary cultivator implement, in soil tillage depends on the annual use of the machinery, the total purchase price of the machinery and the field capacity of the machinery.
• The field capacity of PADITRAK in soil tillage varied depending on the depth of cultivation, the bearing capacity of the soil, and the degree of weed infestation.
• The cost of rotary tillage using PADITRAK on padi soil is about RM 56.00/ha as shown in the TABLE below. The cost of soil tillage using the conventional 4 wheel tractor and rotary cultivator is included for comparison.

Table 1. Evaluation of economic viability of PADITRAK-tractor

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     4-W tractor               PADITRAK
                                     & rotavator              & rotavator
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Purchase Price(RM)		     39,000.00			55,000.00


Fuel consumption (L/ha)                 6                         6
Labour Cost (RM/h)                      6.30                      7.56
Operating cost (RM/h)                  26.50                     31.74

Working width (m)                       1.5                      1.8
Speed of operation (kph)                4                        4
Field efficiency (%)                   70                       70
Field capacity (ha/h)                   0.42                     0.504
Operating Cost (RM/ha)                 63.10                    62.98

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASSUMPTIONS

The following assumptions were made in the economic analysis:
• The annual use of PADITRAK for harvesting is 500 hours.
• The annual use of PADITRAK for soil rotavation is 500 hours.
• Interest is 10%.
• Salvage value is 10%.
• Economic life of PADITRAK is 10 years, that of the rotavator is 8 years and that of the harvester implement is 6 years.
• Straight line depreciation
• Oil cost is 15% of fuel cost
• Labour cost is a percentage of the contract charge: 25% for tillage work, 50% for harvesting with PADITRAK-combine and 30% with the other combines