Vol. 6 (1) : January-February 2015 issue
Green Farming Vol. 6 (1) : 211-214 ; January-February, 2015
Optimization of operational parameters for development of tractor operated rotary weeder
K. MANJUNATHA1, M. ANANTACHAR2, VIJAYAKUMAR PALLED3*, SUSHILENDRA4, K.V. PRAKASH5 and SUNIL SHIRWAL6
Deptt. of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur – 584 104 (Karnataka)
Designation : 1Ph.D. Scholar *(vs.palled@gmail.com), 2Former Dean, 3Asstt. Professor
Subject : Agriculture Engineering, Farm Machinery, Energy & Power and Process Engineering
Paper No. : P-1637
Total Pages : 4
Received : 10 March 2014
Revised accepted : 10 November 2014
Get Access
Citation :
K. MANJUNATHA, M. ANANTACHAR, VIJAYAKUMAR PALLED, SUSHILENDRA, K.V. PRAKASH and SUNIL SHIRWAL. 2015. Optimization of operational parameters for development of tractor operated rotary weeder. Green Farming Vol. 6 (1) : 211-214 ; January-February, 2015
ABSTRACT
A study was conducted to optimize the operational parameters viz., forward speed, rotary speed and type of blade for development of a tractor operated rotary weeder. The weeder was designed using computer aided design (CAD) software and prototype was fabricated and operational parameters viz., three forward speeds (2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 km h-1), two rotary speeds (210 and 240 rpm) and three types of blades (L-type, C-type and J-type) were selected to evaluate its performance for weeding in redgram crop in field conditions. The results indicated that the maximum weeding efficiency of 92.5% with a field capacity of 0.42 ha h-1 and fuel consumption of 5.2 l h-1 was recorded with minimum plant damage (3.15%). The field performance of the weeder was found to be better at 2.5 km h-1 with a rotary speed of 210 rpm for L-type blade compared to other types which were selected as optimized conditions for rotary weeder.
Key words :
Fuel consumption, Operational parameters, Plant damage, Redgram, Rotary weeder, Weeding efficiency.
