INVESTIGATION ON PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF 4-WHEEL DRIVE TRACTOR MOUNTED PADDY TRANSPLANTER
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Date
2018
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Publisher
Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University
Abstract
Rice (Oriza Sativa. L) is one of the most important staple food crops in the world.
The total area of rice cultivation in India is 42.20 M ha which is largest in the world against
a total area of 148.40 M ha. The production of rice in India is about 84.74 Mt which stands
second after china (187 Mt). High labour demand during the peak rice transplanting period
adversely affects the timeliness of operation, thereby, reducing the crop yield. Timeliness
of rice transplanting is essential for optimizing the yield and this can be achieved only
through the mechanical transplanting. The available transplanters in India were quite
satisfactory in operation and labour requirement is also less but these are used in the season
and kept idle condition in the off season. Moreover, the price of these transplanters is very
high and majority of the farmers cannot afford to buy. Keep all these in view the
investigation was carried out to mount the transplanting mechanism to 4- wheel drive
tractor.
The VST Mitsubishi Shakti 4-wheel drive 22 hp tractor and China make Yanji
Shakti 8-row paddy transplanter were identified for design and development of 4-wheel
drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter. Planting speed of 120-250 rpm was considered to
obtain optimum hill to hill spacing. The 3-D solid model of reduction gear box was made
with the help of CATIA V5 R18 software. The fabricated 2 stage reduction gear box was
attached to the 4-wheel drive tractor to transfer the power from PTO to paddy transplanting
mechanism with the help of mounting frame.
In laboratory evaluation, the speed of paddy transplanting mechanism increased
with increasing the engine rpm at both PTO1 and PTO2. The recommended planting speed
120-250 rpm was found from 1750- 3000 and 1250- 2500 engine RPM for PTO1 and PTO
2 respectively. The working accuracy of 4- wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter
at different PTO gear settings had no effect on the engine RPM but it affected the PTO
selection, Load gear selection and hill spacing. During the evaluation, it was observed that
the hill spacing of 10.5, 15.6, 34.0, 6.8, 10.9 and 24.7 cm was obtained at P1G1, P1G2,
P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO gear settings respectively.
During the preliminary field trials, the transplanter encountered problem due to
greater weight transfer. This problem was overcome by ballasting front wheels with 60 kg
dead weight and increases the mast height up to 20 cm.
Based on the optimized values, a 4 wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter
was developed and evaluated for its performance. The experimental field was laid out in
completely randomized design (CRD) at Agricultural research institute, PJTSAU,
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The paddy variety of RNR -15048 was selected for raising
nursery.The tractor mounted paddy transplanter was operated at 1750 engine RPM based at
P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations.
Transplanter was further evaluated after rectifying the problem of weight transfer,
the field capacity of the machine was 0.09, 0.12, 0.17, 0.09, 0.12 and 0.17 ha h-1 at an
average speed of 0.89, 1.08, 1.46, 0.89, 1.14 and 1.50 kmph with the field efficiency of
54.74, 58.25, 60.18, 55.18, 57.38 and 60.47 per cent for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2
and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations respectively. The wheel slip and fuel
consumption were observed as 6.7, 9.9, 6.8, 5.7, 13.7 and 8.9 per cent and 1.35, 1.39, 1.34,
1.36, 1.33 and 1.37 l h-1 for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 PTO and forward
gear combinations respectively. The field machine index was obtained as 54.74, 58.25,
60.18, 55.18, 57.38 and 60.48 per cent respectively for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2
and P2G3 PTO and forward gear combinations. During the evaluation, it was observed that
the average hill spacing of 10.50, 15.33, 33.73, 6.17, 9.83 and 23.33 cm were obtained, the
average number of seedlings per hill and depth of transplanting was obtained as 4.0, 3.33,
3.33, 5.67, 3.0 and 3.33 and 4.83, 4.83, 5.00, 4.83, 4.80 and 4.83 cm at P1G1, P1G2, P1G3,
P2G1, P2G2 and P2G3 of PTO gear combinations respectively.
The highest average missing hills, floating hills, buried hills and damaged hills were
obtained as 24.3 and 29.3 per cent, 6.1 and 6.5 per cent, 10.1 and 7.5 per cent for P1G3 and
P2G3 PTO and gear combinations respectively. This is due to unable to pick paddy
seedlings properly and high rotation speed of transplanting fingers in 3rd forward gear of
machine. During the evaluation the standing angle of planted seedlings were obtained as
82, 83, 84, 82, 83 and 83 degrees respectively for P1G1, P1G2, P1G3, P2G1, P2G2 and
P2G3 of PTO gear combinations. The highest grain yield was 6167 kg ha-1 for P1G2
whereas the lowest grain yield was obtained as 2407 kg ha-1 for P2G3of PTO & gear
combinations respectively. The highest straw yield was 16800 kg ha-1 for P2G1 whereas
the lowest grain yield was 7820 kg ha-1 for P1G3of PTO & gear combinations respectively.
It was noted that the treatment 2 (P1G2), is significantly superior over all other treatments.
There is no significance difference between treatment 4 (P2G1) and treatment 5 (P2G2)
both are on par with each other and superior over treatment1 (P1G1), treatment 3 (P1G3)
and treatment 6 (P2G3). From the results, the optimum hill spacing was obtained by the
treatment 2 with the spacing of 15.33 cm.
The total cost of operation of 4-wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter was
Rs. 4898 per hectare whereas the cost of planting with hiring paddy transplanter and
manual transplanting were Rs. 6250 per hectare and Rs. 5000 per hectare respectively. It
was shown that the cost of operation of 4-wheel drive tractor mounted paddy transplanter
was less compared to hired paddy transplanter and manual paddy transplanting i.e., Rs.
1352 and Rs. 102 per hectare respectively.
The cost of cultivation net profit for developed tractor mounted paddy transplanter
were Rs. 27496 ha-1 and Rs. 71925 ha-1 respectively. The benefit-cost ratio was about 2.61.
The break-even point of was estimated as 148 hours per year with the annual usage of 400
hours per year for two seasons. The annual utility and payback period were 48 ha year -1
and 4.79 years respectively.
Description
D5562
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