The use of agricultural machinery represents the main aspect contribut-ing to the total energy input in the agricultural system. The study evaluatedthe energy requirements and the work quality of two conventional (three-furrow plough and spading machine) and of four conservation implements(rotary harrow, subsoiler, disk harrow, combined cultivator) for medium-deep primary tillage in a silty-clay soil, widespread in Central Italy. Thetests were carried out with the aim of selecting the most energy-efficientimplement. Working speed, force of traction, fuel consumption and energydemands were measured, using a 205 kW instrumented tractor. Cloddinessand roughness of the tilled soil, biomass coverage index and buryingdegree were evaluated. The conservation tillage implements gave the bestresults in fuel consumption and energy requirements respect to the con-ventional implements, with energy savings up to 86% in the case of diskharrow. The rotary harrow showed intermediate values and the best soilrefinement. Among the conservation implements, the disk harrow showedthe best performance on biomass coverage index (43.8%), while the com-bined cultivator showed the highest value of biomass burying (87.8%) andthe best performance on fuel consumption per hour (25.8 kg h–1