Performance of New Design Mouldboard Plough Model (Double Sided Plough) in a Soil Bin

Özet

Mouldboard plough is common tillage tool tool in the traditional tillage system byfarmers in the world. Single-sided moldboard ploughs (SMP) are used widely for conventionaltillage. But, SMP forms ridges or open furrows in the field due to its way of entering to the fieldwhich causes deformation in the field leveling. Unnecessary empty turns of SMP decreases not onlythe efficiency of the plough but also increases the fuel consumption. To avoid the disadvantages ofSMP, reversible mouldboard plough (RMP) is used by farmers. But RMP requires high powertractors due to its heavy structure (2 ploughs in the same frame). Beside its heavy structure, RMPare quite expensive to buy comparing the prices of SMP. The advantages of SMP are low buyingprice and not requiring high power tractors, but they have also disadvantages like causingdeformation in the field leveling, high fuel consumptions and low efficiency comparing the RMP.New mouldboard plough was designed to avoid disadvantages but at the same time to gainadvantages of both SMP and RMP. This new design plough was named Double SidedMouldboard Plough (DSMP) can invert the soil in both directions of the tractor like RMP does.DSMP has similar number of plough body like SMP and does not require a high power tractor. Dueto its light structure, DSMP removes the disadvantages of RMP while maintains the advantages ofboth SMP and RMP.The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of DSMP and compare the resultswith two different models SMP in a soil bin. For this purpose, one half scale of single bottom DSMPmodel was constructed and tested in the soil bin with 10% moisture content located in thedepartment of farm machinery, Warsaw Agricultural Faculty, Warsaw, Poland. Tillage quality andspecific draft of the DSMP at different travel speed were measured for the performances of themodel plough in the soil bin. The results were compared with previously made experiment in whichsimilar models of SMP used in the same soil bin with 14% moisture content. According to theresults, DSMP can be used effectively as an alternative to the SMP and RMP in the field conditionsonce its frame properly designed.