Abstract
This study was intended to measure and analyze hand-transmitted vibrations from cultivator in idle and operation modes for three different types of field works. Based on this analysis a time for the white finger syndrome to appear on 10% of the operators was estimated assuming that their daily exposure is 3 hours. The 4 methods to reduce the hand vibration were also proposed and compared with each other. The results of the study were summarized as follows : The highest vibration level was recorded during trenching operation, resulting in a total average vibration of 11.5 m/s$^2$. Followings were 7.6 m/s$^2$ during rotary tillage and 7.0 m/s$^2$ for weeding. When exposed to these levels of vibrations three hours a day, the white finger syndrome is likely to appear in 4 years for trenching, 6.2 years for rotary tillage and 6.8 years for weeding operations. Isolation of hand vibration performed by a rubber pad, anti-vibration gloves, a handle anti-vibration device and engine mounts were respectively 15.7%, 16.5%. 26.1% and 27.0%, resulting in most effective methods of the handle anti-vibration device and engine mounts. A better performance of about 33.9% was achieved when both the handle anti-vibration device and engine mounts were used.
