Development of a Shoe Attachment to the Existing Furrow Opener of Tractor Drawn Seed cum Fertilizer Drill and its Performance Evaluation [ READ ]
Suryakanta Khandai, N.Mahapatra and M.K.Ghosal
The plain shovel type of furrow opener mostly used in the presently available seed cum fertilizer drill has been modified by attaching a suitable shoe to it with a view to solve the problem of frequent soil sticking in the seed and fertilizer tubes and also to achieve the proper placement and coverage of seed in the soil. The performance of the developed shoe attachment to the existing plain type furrow opener was evaluated in the soil bin of the Dept. of Farm Machinery and Power, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during the year 2012. Experiments were conducted in sandy loam soil and the effects of draft requirements of three types of furrow opener like developed furrow opener prototype (Furrow 1), plain shovel (Furrow 2) and shovel with shoe attachment (Furrow 3) were studied with moisture contents within 8-9%, 11-12%, 14-15% and 17-18% (wb) for four speeds of operation (0.8 km/h, 1.2km/h, 1.6km/h and 2 km/h) and for three depths (50 mm, 60mm and 70 mm). Soil strength was maintained between 800 kPa to 1000 kPa. Similarly, the furrow parameters studied during the course of experiments were furrow bottom, soil throw and soil coverage after passage of furrow opener in the soil bin. The data collected through experiments were analyzed statistically by following completely randomized design (CRD) method. It was found that the draft requirements for the developed shoe attachment were 30-35 % more than the plane shovel but soil coverage in the developed unit was found better and was about 100 per cent higher than the plain shovel at all depths studied. The draft requirement of the developed shoe attachment was also found very much suitable for the existing tractor operated seed cum fertilizer drills equipped with shovel type furrow openers only.
Suryakanta Khandai, N.Mahapatra and M.K.Ghosal
The plain shovel type of furrow opener mostly used in the presently available seed cum fertilizer drill has been modified by attaching a suitable shoe to it with a view to solve the problem of frequent soil sticking in the seed and fertilizer tubes and also to achieve the proper placement and coverage of seed in the soil. The performance of the developed shoe attachment to the existing plain type furrow opener was evaluated in the soil bin of the Dept. of Farm Machinery and Power, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during the year 2012. Experiments were conducted in sandy loam soil and the effects of draft requirements of three types of furrow opener like developed furrow opener prototype (Furrow 1), plain shovel (Furrow 2) and shovel with shoe attachment (Furrow 3) were studied with moisture contents within 8-9%, 11-12%, 14-15% and 17-18% (wb) for four speeds of operation (0.8 km/h, 1.2km/h, 1.6km/h and 2 km/h) and for three depths (50 mm, 60mm and 70 mm). Soil strength was maintained between 800 kPa to 1000 kPa. Similarly, the furrow parameters studied during the course of experiments were furrow bottom, soil throw and soil coverage after passage of furrow opener in the soil bin. The data collected through experiments were analyzed statistically by following completely randomized design (CRD) method. It was found that the draft requirements for the developed shoe attachment were 30-35 % more than the plane shovel but soil coverage in the developed unit was found better and was about 100 per cent higher than the plain shovel at all depths studied. The draft requirement of the developed shoe attachment was also found very much suitable for the existing tractor operated seed cum fertilizer drills equipped with shovel type furrow openers only.
