Effect of gang speed, ? -ratio and depth of operation on the performance of powered vertical disc plough

Abstract

The conventional implements utilizing drawbar power through the tractor tyre -soil interface are inefficient mainly due to poor traction efficiency and high wheel slippage. Tractor PTO operated implements have been reported to be more effective in regard to soil cutting ability, pulverization and less draft requirement. Considering the merits, a powered vertical disc plough was designed and developed. The performance was evaluated in rice field (silty-clay-loam) at 15.60% m.c. (d.b) with three levels each of gang speed (70, 90 and 110 rpm), ? i.e. peripheral disc velocity to ground speed ratio ? (4,3 and 2) and depth of operation (5, 10 and 15 cm). The performance of the implement was found best around 90 rpm of gang speed for ?2 at 10 cm depth of operation in respect of fuel use, draft and wheel slippage, clod size and stubble inversion. The draft ranged between 2.01 to 3.82 kN. The result indicated the possibility of using a bigger size of implement for the same size of tractor.