Landbased Technician Accreditation (LTA 1–4)

United Kingdom · IAgrE for the AEA industry scheme · professional · secondary source

56practice questions written to this syllabus
3subjects

Format

Four levels from LTA1 Entry to LTA4 Master; LTA2 at advanced apprenticeship level; pathway to EngTech.

Over the years

Launched Dec 2007 (2012 article). Its current status for 2016–2026 is unverified because the IAgrE pages returned 404.

Official source: https://www.sruc.ac.uk/media/tudbjksr/lta_article.pdf

Subjects this exam draws on

Tractor Systems & Controls8 questionsPrecision Agriculture & System Management24 questionsAgricultural Drones, Robotics & Automation24 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. A tractor is working with the differential lock engaged. The crown wheel turns at 30 rev/min (after the final drive the wheels would turn at 6 rev/min each). If the operator now tries a turn on firm ground without releasing the lock, the wheel speeds are

  1. both 6 rev/min, so one tyre must slip or scrub and the axle is heavily strained
  2. outer 7 rev/min and inner 5 rev/min, as in a normal turn, because the lock acts only in a straight line
  3. outer 12 rev/min and inner zero
  4. the lock releases the outer wheel automatically on every tractor as soon as the steering is turned
Answer and working

A. both 6 rev/min, so one tyre must slip or scrub and the axle is heavily strained

With the lock engaged both side gears are tied to the case, so both wheels turn at crown speed/final drive = 30/5 = 6 rev/min. On a turn the outer wheel needs to go faster, so something must slip, which strains shafts and gears and makes the tractor resist turning. Some electronic locks disengage with steering angle, but this is not true of every tractor; the rule is to release the lock before turning.

Tractor Systems & Controls · Differential and differential lock

2. What distinguishes real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning from ordinary code-based GNSS?

  1. It averages many code pseudoranges over a long time from a single receiver
  2. It uses geostationary satellites to broadcast wide-area ionospheric corrections
  3. It resolves carrier-phase ambiguities using data from a nearby base station
  4. It measures the Doppler shift of the signal to compute a speed-corrected position
Answer and working

C. It resolves carrier-phase ambiguities using data from a nearby base station

RTK uses the carrier phase and corrections from a base at a known point to fix integer ambiguities, giving about 1–2.5 cm. Wide-area geostationary corrections describe SBAS, which gives sub-metre accuracy; averaging code ranges or using Doppler does not reach centimetre level.

Precision Agriculture & System Management · GNSS and RTK positioning

3. A spray team moves from a cool coastal site to a hot upland site. What should they expect for the same drone and tank load?

  1. Hover power is unchanged because thrust depends only on motor speed and voltage
  2. Hover power falls because thinner air puts less drag on the spinning propellers, so payload can rise
  3. Hover power rises because the thinner air is less dense, so the safe payload falls
  4. Battery capacity rises in the heat and fully offsets any change in rotor power
Answer and working

C. Hover power rises because the thinner air is less dense, so the safe payload falls

Ideal hover power is T^1.5/√(2ρA): lower density ρ means more power for the same thrust. Rotor thrust depends on air density, not only on speed, and heat shortens battery life rather than adding usable capacity.

Agricultural Drones, Robotics & Automation · UAV types and payload

4. Which practice is most important for power tiller operator safety?

  1. Always run the engine at maximum speed
  2. Remove the rotor guard in wet soil
  3. Coast downhill in neutral
  4. Never reverse with the rotary tiller engaged
Answer and working

D. Never reverse with the rotary tiller engaged

Reversing with the rotor turning can pull the machine onto the operator's feet. Guards stay on, and slopes are descended in a low gear.

Tractor Systems & Controls · Power tillers

5. The grain transport delay in a combine is 10 s and it harvests at 1.8 m/s. Yield records must be shifted back along the path by

  1. 5.6 m
  2. 18 m
  3. 1.8 m
  4. 36 m
Answer and working

B. 18 m

Shift = speed × delay = 1.8 × 10 = 18 m. 5.6 m divides delay by speed; 1.8 m is the per-second distance; 36 m doubles it.

Precision Agriculture & System Management · Yield monitoring

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