Development and Evaluation of Tractor Operated Rotary Spading Machine

摘要

The manual spading operation in rice fallow cotton is a highly labour intensive operation. The success of the crop depends on this crucial operation. The labour availability for such work is very limited and manual operation is costly. A tractor operated rotary spading machine was developed that provided an exciting alternative to tillage under conditions where other tillage techniques cannot be adopted. The unit consisted of a main frame, gearbox, crank shaft assembly, digger arm and shovel assembly and depth control wheel. The shovel with digging arms was thrown into the soil and, with the help of a 4-bar linkage mechanism, broke and loosened top-soil with crop residue and mixed the surface applications well so that air and moisture sped the decomposition of vegetation. The performance of the rotary spading machine was evaluated and compared with the existing practice of manual digging with a spade. The furrow bottom without any smearing of compaction was highly beneficial for root growth. It was also observed that as depth was increased the area increased. This clearly showed that as the tillage tool worked deeper, the size of the side failure crescent increased and led to increased area of furrow. The quality of work done by the spading machine in terms of uniformity in depth and degree of soil break up was better than the manual spading. The operation of the spading machine resulted in 38.5 and 96.5 percent saving in cost and time, respectively, when compared to manual spading. Also, it resulted in 15 and 90 percent savings in cost and time, respectively, when compared to manual digging of a manure pit around a coconut tree.