| Author(s) | Saad A. Al-Hamed |
| Affiliation | Agricultural Engineering Department, College of Agriculture, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451,Saudi Arabia |
| Title | Effect of Shank Shape of the Chisel Plow on Its Productivity and Fuel Energy Consumption during Tillage Operation |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Agricultural Sciences. Volume 17, No 1. (2005/1425) |
| Abstract | Field efficiency, effective field capacity, fuel consumption per unit area, and specific fuel energy were estimated during tillage operation in sandy loam soil for three chisel plows with different shank shapes. An instrumented tractor was used in the experiments. The instrumentation system consisting of sensitive sensors and a data logger was used for measuring and recording tractor performance parameters such as fuel consumption, tractor forward speed and plowing depth. Performance parameters were measured at four forward speeds from 2.7 to 6.9 km/h for each plow, and the tillage depth during field operation was kept at a specific value for each plow, which ranged from 7.1 cm to 9.8 cm with an average of 8.5 cm. For all the three plows, the results showed an inversal relationship between field efficiency and forward speed, and field efficiency values were close at each speed of the four forward speeds. Also, the results showed that there were differences in fuel consumption per unit area and specific fuel energy among the used plows, where the plow with semi straight shanks gave lower fuel consumption per unit area and specific fuel energy compared with the other two shanks, and the highest fuel energy values were for the plow with curved shanks. Also, the specific energy per unit depth when using curved shanks (7.05-13.13 kW.hr/ha.cm) was higher than those for the other shanks. The values of specific energy per unit depth when using the semi straight and semi curved shanks were close to each other. However, they were less for the semi curved shanks (4.11-7.35 kW.hr/ha.cm). Also, the results showed that the energy consumption during tillage operation decreases with increasing forward speed. |
