For growers in the South Australian Mallee to have increased their knowledge of the power, fuel and labour cost implications for various soil amelioration tactics, to maximise the efficiency and profitability of soil amelioration.

Recent field testing of two groups of 5 deep ripping tynes in SA Mallee sandy soils showed that:
- Ripping depth is the most important factor affecting narrow shank tyne performance, measuring a 2.4-fold draft increase and a significant reduction in soil loosening efficiency from 400 to 600 mm depth.
- Ripping at 7 km/h, relative to 4 km/h, increased draft by 15-18% (narrow shank tynes) and 26-42% (delving/mixing tynes) and more than doubled drawbar power.
- Tyne design accounted for approximately 25% range in draft about the average, but more validation work is required to confirm trends across tynes.
- The delving/mixing ripper tynes operating at 600mm depth required similar draft to narrow shank tynes at 4 km/h but with 20% greater loosening capacity. They required 13% more draft at 7 km/h.
- Adding wings to narrow shank ripper tynes greatly improved the soil loosening efficiency.
- Operating in overly wet sandy soil condition reduced tyne draft but also its loosening capacity, overall reducing its efficiency.
- The measured draft forces in this research can assist with estimating tractor power requirement for deep ripping Mallee sands. A Part 2 factsheet will address the impact of tyne spacing and layout configurations on deep ripping performance.