Development of a Combine Hoeing Machine for Flat and Ridged Soil

Abstract

This study aims to develop a suitable hoeing machine for the crop planted at flat and the ridged soil with ridges reforming, and evaluate it by studying some effective factors such as blades shape, kinematic indices, crop planting methods and power requirements. The experiments were carried out in the Rice Mechanization Center at Meet El Deeba, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. The results indicated that using the developed machine using L-shaped blade increased the weeding efficiency by about 4%, plants damage about 0.8%, operating power requirement about 1.6% in comparison with C-shaped blade. In addition increasing the kinematic index increased the weeding efficiency and also plants damage percentage using L and C-shaped blades and crop planting methods.