Soil compaction is a problem that interferes in root growth and crop production. This study was conducted in the experimental station of Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica of Cuiabá (CEFET), in Santo Antonio do Leverger - MT, Brazil. The aim was to evaluate the cone index of the Distrophic Red Latosol in function of different water levels in two depths, by using a constant speed penetrometer and an impact one, correlating them with the soil density. The design was made of randomized blocks with eight treatments and five replications, arranged by split plots, with four bands of soil water content in the plots: range 1 (0.1883 to 0.2354 m³ m-3); range 2 (0.2355 to 0.2544 mm-3); range 3 (0.2545 to 0.2702 mmand range 4 (0.2703 to 0.3177 m³ m-3), and two depths of sampling like subplots (0.05 to 0.10 m and 0.15 to 0.20 m). From the results it was found that: i) the penetrometers showed significant positive correlation with the soil density; ii) the impact penetrometer presented the highest soil strength.
penetrometer; soil compaction; soil water content; soil density
