Studies on Performance of a Rotavator as Affected by its λ-Ratio

Abstract

Materials and Methods Design of the experiment The two factorial design was used for assessing the effect of λratio and shield positions on the performance of the rotavator under different field conditions. Design of experimental layout The experiment was conducted in a field with clay soil with soil particle size distribution was 62 % clay, 32 % silt and 6 % sand. The liquid and plastic limits of the soil were 48 % and 24 % respectively. Four experimental plots of sizes (25 50 m 2 ) were taken at Crop International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 10 Number 02 (2021) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com A Rotavator or rotary cultivator is the important secondary tillage implement as it provides greater degree of pulverization soil. It is an active tillage implement designed for preparing land suitable for sowing seeds or mixing manure or fertilizer into the soil. It breaks the soil clod into fine tilth by its rotary action of blades. It offers an advantage of rapid seedbed preparation and reduced draft compared to conventional tillage. However, a rotavator may produce the same degree of soil pulverisation as achieved after by combined one pass with a mouldboard plow, two passes with a disk harrow, and one pass with a spike tooth harrow. Rotavator save the time, labour and energy requirement in seed bed preparation. The objective of research was to study the effect of λ-ratio and rear shield position of the rotavator on the performance of rotavator under different field conditions namely, manually and combine harvested paddy and wheat field, for this purpose adowncut type SVrotary tiller was selected mounted with Lshaped was used for this experiment. The rear shield position was adjustable at full down and full up positions and three variables rotor speeds viz. 212, 265 and 331 rpm and two forward speed of tractor 2.86 and 3.57 km/h were selected for the experiment. The studies were conducted under four different field conditions at Crop Research Centre at GBPUAT Pantnagar Uttarakhand. The result revealed that the higher value of draft, fuel consumption and power consumption were found to be 233.33 kgf, 9.23 l/h and 24.92 kW in case of combine harvested paddy field while the lowest value of fuel and power consumption was found to be6.70 l/h and 16.55 kW in manually harvested paddy field and lowest value of draft was found in manually harvested paddy field but higher value of burial residue percentage was obtained 94.20 % in case of manually harvested paddy and lowest value was obtained 82.94% in combine harvested wheat. K e y w o r d s Negative draft, λratio, Fuel consumption, Power consumption, Forward speed and rotational speed Accepted: 17 January 2021 Available Online: 10 February 2021 Article Info Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2021) 10(02): 3053-3069 3054 Research Centre at G.B.P.U.A&T Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Adown-cutrotavator (model SV RT-70 Rotavator) was selected. A 45 hptractor equipped was used for mounting the rotavator working width of 1820 mm width and rotor radius 225 mm was used. Total forty eight L-shape type blades were mounted on the flanges of rotavator because it provided greatest thrust to the tractor. The effect of forward speed, kinematics parameter, shield positions on the performance of rotavator under different field conditions were evaluated by varying the tractor forward and rotor speeds.These speeds were achieved by adjusting the engine throttle and gear position. During testing an average depth of cut of 120 mm was maintained constant throughout the test. Two skids were used at both ends of the rotavator for control the depth of cut during testing. All the measurement was conducted after harvesting of rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) crops by manually and combine harvester machine. The burial residue efficiency by the rotavator was also evaluated during the test. However, less knowledge of how different velocities ratios of rotavator affect the distribution and incorporation of plant residues into the soil. Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the affect of independent variables like forward speed of tractor, λ-ratio and rear shield positions of the rotavator on the draft, fuel consumption, and power consumption and buried residue of crop into the soil by the rotavator under different field’s conditions. Independent parameters The independent parameters were selected from soil, machine and field parameters. The hypothesis of testing was to assume that there will be a significant effect of λratio, shield positions on draft, fuel consumption, burial residue efficiency and power consumption by the rotavator under different field conditions. Machine parameters Kinematics parameter (λratio) λ-ratio is the dimensionless factor also known as kinematics parameter. It affected the chopping and pulverization of soil by the rotavator. Hendrick and Gill (1971c) defined that it is the dimensionless ratio of the rotor peripheral velocity to the machine forward speed.