The University of Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory (NTTL) is the officially designated tractor testing station for the United States and tests tractors according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) codes OECD codes. Tractors are tested in the country of manufacture. Twenty-nine countries adhere to the tractor test codes (including non-OECD members: China, India, the Russian Federation, and Serbia) with active tractor test stations in approximately 25 of those countries. Reciprocity agreements with the codes require that once an OECD test report is officially approved, it must be accepted by all participating countries.
NTTL employs 25-30 part-time student workers, most majoring in Agricultural Engineering or Mechanized Systems Management through UNL's Biological Systems Engineering Department. Many of these students are also members of the Quarter Scale Tractor Team, which competes in an annual event sponsored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
NTTL Test Seasons
The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory seasons are spring and fall. The temperature outdoors must be between 40 and 80 for drawbar testing on the track. For the PTO testing on our dynamometer, we must target 73.5, in occordance with the requirement of the OECD Code 2 performance test. The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory test car was built in 2002 by Caterpillar, Inc. and was used in the testing of 18 tractors during our past Spring test season and 19 tractors during the Fall test season, bringing our total to 2,053 tractors tested since 1920.
