Performance Evaluation of a Heavy Duty Chisel Plow at Various Tillage Depth and Forward Speeds

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).