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Design and Development of a Power Tiller Opbrated Inclined Plate Multi-crop Planter

Sultan Ahmmed
Principal Scientific Officer
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215

M.A.Matin
Scientific Officer
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur- 1701

M A Wohab
Senior Scientific Officer
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur- 1701

M N Amin
Scientific Officer
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur- 1701

K C Roy
Chief Scientific Offrcer
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur- 1701

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A power tiller operated inclined plate multi-crop planter has been design and developed in the research workshop of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur. The main components of the planter are frame, seed hopper, inclined plate seed metering device, seed delivery tubes, furrow opener, soil compaction roller, dock clutch, and chain sprocket. Different functional -parts were assembled on a main frame and it was attached to the rear of the power tiller with rotary replacing the tail wheel. The planter was tested for planting maize and wheat. Before planting, the seed-metering plate for particular crop fitted to the seed hopper. The metering plate was uniformly rotated and there was no missing cell as the constant power form the driving wheel axle through dock clutch is obtained. The row to row and plant to-plant spacing for maize were 75 cm and 25 cm, respectively. The row spacing for wheat was 20. The planting capacity was 0,24.25 ha/hr at the speed of operation was 2-3 km/hr. The weight of the planter unit was 25 kg and price is Tk 8000. The planting cost for maize and wheat are Tk 300 and Tk 400 per ha, respectively. At the current wage levels, the planter have break-even points for maize and wheat are 1.70 ha/yr and 2.50 ha/yr ,respectively compared to that of the manual methods.

Keywords: Design and development, Power tiller operated inclined plate multi-crop planter

Location: Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Planter

Objectives:

1) To design and fabricate a power tiller operated planter for planting and sowing of maize and wheat.

2) To test planter for planting and sowing maize and wheat, modify the planter if needed.

3) To compare the cost of planting with traditional methods.

Methodology:

The main components of the planter are (i) frame, (ii) seed hopper, (iii) inclined plate seed metering device, (iv) seed delivery tubes, (v) furrow opener, (vi) soil compaction roller, (vii) dock clutch, and (viii) chain sprocket. The main frame is made of 4 cm x 4 cm M.S. angle bar of 90 cm length, 100 cm height and 70 cm width. The furrow opener, seed tube, seed hopper, metering plates, gear assembly, chain-sprocket, soil compaction roller, dock clutch, etc. are attached to the main frame. The seed hopper is made of 18 gauge M.S. sheet of 90 cm length, 18 cm width and 20 cm height. It has 4 openings (45 mm x 40 mm) at 18 cm apart at the rare side of the hopper. The metering plates deliver the metered seed into the opening at the top of the delivery tubes and pass through the seed tubes to the furrow. The metering device of the planter is an inclined (600) plate edge-dropping cell. The cells are located around the periphery of the plate. The metering plate passes through the seed reservoir under the baffle plate separated from the main hopper. Seeds are picked in the cells and dropped on the top of the inlet of the delivery tube. A stationery baffle is provided for unloading surplus seeds. These devices for planting and handle the seeds gently. Metering plates are made of aluminum. These plates get power from power tiller driving wheel shaft. The seed-metering unit has 3 components as (a) metering plates, (b) chain sprocket arrangement to operate metering plates through bevel gear matching, and (c) dock clutch. The metering plates deliver the metered seed into the opening at the top of the delivery tubes and pass through the seed tubes to the furrow. Seed dropped by the metering plate have two relative motions with respect to the ground. With respect to the delivery tube, the motion of seed is only along x-axis (direction of travel) because there is no rotational speed of the seed as it is under gravity fall. The path described by the seed with respect to the seed tube is a free fall and initial vertical velocity of the seed at the time of delivery from the metering plate cell is zero. Specially designed furrow openers were introduced in the planter to place seeds at desired depths without any trouble. M.S. angle (25 mm dia) of 25 cm length was used in making the furrow openers ind was fitted on the bottom of the main frame. The furrow openers were attached to the main frame by clamps in such a way as to adjust vertically as well as horizontally to adjust the row spacing and depth of seed placement. The lower end of the seed tubes are attached to the wings of the furrow openers. _A soil compaction roller, made of 20 gauge M.S. sheet (90 cm long and l0 cm dii), was fitted with two self_centered ball bearings, behind the furrow opener with the main frame. In case of minimum tillage planting, ploughing depth was controlled by this' soil compaction roller. For conventional planting, depth of planting was adjusted by furrow opener height adjustment. A transport wheel was attached to the frame for easy transportation in off field condition. at the time of planting, the wheel was removed. A dock clutch is used to connect and disconnect metering device shaft to driving wheel shaft. Gear diameter is 55 mm and number of the teeth is 24. The dock clutch was fixed on the side of the seed hopper. It is a steel shaft of 30 mm diameter. To connect and disconnect the metering device through dock clutch, a handle was used with locking arrangement bear the power tiller handle. Chain-sprocket and a dock clutch were used for transmitting power from power tiller axle to the driving shaft. Bevel gear are use to transmit power from the metering shaft to the metering plate. Seed rate and plant to plant distance can be adjusted by changing the rotational speed of the plate or by varying the number of cells on it. The test was conducted for this planter in the laboratory. The objective of this test was to examine the performance of the metering devices; the result of which can provide the basic data for field performance. Driving wheel of the power tiller was jacked up to rotate the metering device by rotating the drive wheel 20 revolutions. The seed rate per hectare was calculated knowing the weight of seeds collected from the delivery tube during 20 revolutions, row spacing and distance traveled by the planter in 20 revolutions. This test was also accomplished by running the planter over a layer of sand at the same speed as in the field with maize and wheat. The seeds were trapped on the layer of sand at he point were they fall. The items measured, observed and recorded in the test are : name of crops and variety, weight seeds, travel speed, number of rows, row spacing, hill to hill spacing and pattern of seeds deposition. The planter was tested at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur . It was operated by a 12 hp power tiller at a speed of 1.5-4.0 km/hr. Before planting, the seed-metering plate for particular crop was fitted to the seed hopper. The metering Plate is uniformly rotated and there is no missing cell as the constant power form the driving wheel axle through dock clutch is obtained. Maize seeds were planted at 3-4 cm depth with a row spacing of 75 cm and plant to plant spacing of 25 cm. The planter covered 2 rows (75 cm width) in single pass. Maize seed rate was 22 k{ha. Wheat seeds were sown at 3 cm depth and row spacing of 20 cm. The planter covered 4 lines (80 cm width) in single pass and the seed rate of wheat was 100 kg/ha. After germination of seeds, plant population was counted.

Source of Information: Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh Agricultural Engineering Division, Vol. 31/AE, No.l", Dec,2004

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Power tiller operated multi-crop planter has been designed, developed and tested for planting and drill of maize, and wheat, respectively changing by the metering plate- Seed rate and operational cost are lower than the traditional method. The planting cost for maize and wheat are Tk 300 per ha and Tk 400 per ha respectively. Power requirement of this planter is within the capacity of the power tiller. Planter field capacity depend on the skill of the operator and soil condition, for maize and wheat O.25 ha/hr and 0.20 ha/hr, respectively. At he current wage levels, the planter have break-even points for maize and wheat are 1.7 ha/yr and 2.5 ha/yr, respectively compared to that of the manual methods.

Knowledge Management: Journal