Development of a Double Caged (Active-Passive) Puddler


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Authors

  • Maheshwari Rakesh Kumar
  • Thomas E. V

Keywords:

paddy field preparation, power operated puddler, puddler, puddling, puddling index, rotary puddler, specific energy

Abstract

Rice seedlings are usually transplanted in a puddled field. Tractor cage wheel, being used
extensively for this purpose is poorly effective and causes excessive wear on the brakes.
Animal drawn puddlers have low work rate. Because of higher rotary speed, rotary tiller
tines wear very fast and consume excess power. A study was therefore undertaken to
design and develop a double caged (active-passive) power operated puddler. A prototype
power operated puddler of 400 mm width was designed and developed. It comprised two
concentric cages. The inner cage was powered while the outer was dragged. The
transmission system was developed for testing the performance of the puddler at different
rotary speeds in the range of 41 to 181 rpm. Field experiments were conducted in order to
evaluate performance of the developed puddler. The newly designed puddler unit was
attached to a power tiller by replacing the conventional rotary tiller. The level of puddling
was varied from single pass to three passes. The whole experiment was also conducted
without dragged cage in the newly designed puddler. To compare the performance, a
conventional power tiller operated rotary tiller was tested at available two rotary speeds.
With increased rotary speed as well as number of passes puddling index of the developed
puddler was found increasing. When the developed puddler was operated without dragged
cage, the fuel consumption was found to be higher as compared to that with dragged cage.
The developed puddler with dragged cage was found to be 14.5% and 30.5% fuel saving
against power tiller operated rotary tiller, for 65.0 and 80.0 % puddling index, respectively.

Author Biographies

  • Maheshwari Rakesh Kumar

    National Innovation Foundation India (NIF), Satellite Complex, Opp Mansi Tower, Satellite, Ahmedabad- 380015

  • Thomas E. V
    Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur– 721302

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Submitted

2019-10-23

Published

2019-10-23

Issue

Vol. 31 No. 2 (2018)

Section

Articles

License

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How to Cite

Kumar, M. R., & E. V, T. (2019). Development of a Double Caged (Active-Passive) Puddler. Indian Journal of Hill Farming, 31(2). https://epubs.icar.org.in/index.php/IJHF/article/view/94690