Design, development and performance of a disk plow combined with rotary blades

Abstract

Disk plow combined with rotary blades, defined as comboplow, is used for soil preparation for planting. The comboplow includes four units: Chassis, concave disk, transmission system and rotary blades. A multiple tillage operation is reduced in a single pass resulting in a potential reduction of soil compaction, labor, fuel cost and saving in time. The comboplow was tested at University Putra Malaysia Research Park, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, on three different plots of 675 m2 in the year 2010/2011. The treatments were three types of blade [(straight (S),curved (c) and L-shaped)] and three rotary speeds (130,147and 165 rpm). The parameters were Mean Weight Diameter Dry Basis (MWDd), Mean weight Diameter Wet Basis (MWDW), Aggregate Stability Index (SI) and Instability Index (II). © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.