This record contains the data and R code supporting the article “An energy-based model of soil fragmentation by tillage” by Heller et al. The model predicts tillage-induced soil fragmentation from the applied mechanical energy and the initial soil state, represented by soil water content and initial specific fragment surface area. It partitions tillage energy among three processes: the creation of new fragment surfaces, the displacement of existing fragments and plastic deformation. The model was parameterised and evaluated using literature-derived data from drop-shatter tests and tillage experiments. The included analyses demonstrate the model’s ability to reproduce the texture- and moisture-dependent soil workability range and the diminishing effectiveness of successive tillage operations. Under simplifying assumptions, the predicted fragment surface area can also be translated into fragment-size and inter-fragment pore-size distributions, providing a basis for representing tillage-induced structural changes in agroecosystem models.