There are problems including intense vibration and unclear vibration transmission characteristics during manipulating the steering wheel by the tractor operators.The ISO 5349 evaluation method was used to evaluate the hand-transmitted vibration of the steering wheel system under two different conditions and analyze the characteristics of vibration transmission of operators’ arm systems at different percentages.The results showed that the daily vibration exposure of the tractor was 4.257 m/s²，which exceeded the limit of daily vibration exposure of 3.5 m/s² specified in the national standard，and had a high risk of causing hand-arm vibration disease.The steering wheel vibration in the axial direction was greatly higher than that in the tangential and radial directions，which was the main factor causing hand-transmitted vibration.The radial vibration was largely absorbed during the transmission from the hand back to the forearm，while the tangential vibration was greatly absorbed in the transmission from the forearm to the upper arm.Moreover，the smaller the operator’s physical size，the greater the vibration transmission rate at the hand back.The significant increase in vibration from the hand back to forearm was found under the frequency of 20 Hz.Therefore，smaller operators in engineering practice should pay attention to the vibration protection at the palms，while larger ones are suggested to focus on the vibration protection at the wrists.In addition，the radial protection should be mainly strengthened for the driver’s wrist，and the tangential protection should be mainly strengthened for the elbow joint.