[5-1130-P] Other Categories (5th)

[5-1130-P-23] Power Tiller’s Wheel Structure and its Oscillatory Effects on Subsoiling Operation

*Oyetayo Olukorede Oyebode¹, Koichi Shoji¹ (1. Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University(Japan))

Keywords:Power tiller, Hexagonal Wheel, Subsoiler, Oscillatory motion

The path followed by a subsoiler attached to a hexagonal wheeled power tiller was studied. Many researchers have reported a significant reduction in draft force and an improved tillage quality when the performance of oscillated tillage tools was compared with rigidly fixed tillage tools. However, these improvements usually come with drastically increased engine power use and fuel consumption. Developing the oscillatory motion without significantly increasing the engine power use is therefore the focus of this research. A model subsoiler was fabricated and attached to a power tiller. The tiller wheels were replaced with 200 mm regular hexagonal wheels made of perforated steel and having a width of 200 mm. To have an understanding of the workings of the subsoiler, the path followed by the tip of the subsoiler was measured at two speeds of 0.037 m/s and 0.140 m/s. An ultrasonic sensor which was rigidly fixed above but independent of the power tiller was used to measure the vertical displacements made by the subsoiler as it travels in the soil bin. A graph of the height of the subsoiler versus time was thus plotted. The results show that the path followed by the subsoiler as it travels laterally at both speeds was sinusoidal or oscillatory in the vertical direction. The amplitudes for both speeds were approximately the same, but the frequency increased with increase in speed. It was also observed that the tip of the subsoiler moved downward through uncut soil suggesting that the effort at reducing power consumption with the investigated wheel configuration may not be as successful as expected.