Paper Title
Performance Evaluation of a Heavy Duty Chisel Plow at Various Tillage Depth and Forward Speed
Abstract
Problem statement: Tillage is a process of creating a desirable soil condition for seed germination and growth. The tillage
of soil is considered to be one of the biggest farm operations as the tillage operation requires the most energy on the farm.
Manufacturers of tillage implements tend to overdesign their products due to a lack of the proper testing and analysis of
tillage tools and the technical expertise required to optimize the farm operations. Chisel plow is widely used by farmers as a
primary tillage tool. Performance data for chisel plow operation is essential in order to optimize its performance and reduce
the cost of tillage operation. Approach: Field experiments were conducted using a fully instrumented MS 3090 tractor to
evaluate the performance of a heavy duty chisel plow in a sandy soil over wide ranges of plowing depths and forward
speeds. The plowing depth, forward speed and draft were measured and recorded using an instrumentation system and data
logger.
Results: The effects of plowing depth and forward speeds on draft, unit draft, vertical specific draft, horizontal specific draft
and coefficient of pull were evaluated. The results indicated that increasing the plowing depth and/or the forward speed
increased the draft, unit draft and vertical specific draft. Also, increasing the plowing depth increased the horizontal specific
draft and the coefficient of pull, while increasing the forward speed decreased the horizontal specific draft and the coefficient
of pull.
Conclusion: About 26.7% of the draft force was directed towards cutting the soil and 73.3% was consumed in pulverization
of soil particles. The values of the vertical specific draft were much higher than those of the horizontal specific draft for all
plowing depths and forward speeds. The plowing depth had more pronounced effect on the draft, unit draft, specific draft
and coefficient of pull than the forward speed. The optimum forward speed was 1.75 m sec
1
. The recommended plowing
depth should be based on the type of crop (depth of the root system.
Keywords— Tillage, draft, unit draft, specific draft, coefficient of pull, sandy soil, instrumentation, chisel plow.