Effect of Lug Angle, Forward and Shaft Speeds, and Number of Passes on Puddling Characteristics and Performance of the Tilling Wheel of Float-Assisted Tiller
Abstract
Float-assisted tiller is one of the tillage equipment used for lowland rice production. A float-assisted tiller consists of a front-mounted cage wheel (tilling wheel) and a float on which the engine is mounted. The tilling wheel of the float-assisted tiller functions as a traction and puddling device. The paper studied the effect of lug angle (13° and 0°) on the puddling characteristics and performance of the tilling wheel at three forward speeds (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 km h-1), and three shaft speeds (200, 250 and 300 rev min-1) and number of passes (1st, 2nd and 3rd). The experiments were done using a single tilling wheel in a laboratory soil bin using Maahas clay.
The highest performance index of 1,334.6 m3 MJ-1 was obtained on 3rd pass using 13° lug angle set at 200 rev min-1 shaft speed and 1.5 km h-1 forward speed. Performance index was affected by the lug angle, forward speed and number of passes. The mean differences of performance index were significant only between 0.5 and 1.0 km h-1. The highest tractive efficiency was 11.2% with 13° on the 1st pass at 200 rev min-1 and 1.5 km h-1. Tractive efficiency with 13° lug angle was relatively higher than with 0°. Tractive efficiency was significantly affected by the lug angle and forward speed. The mean differences of tractive efficiency were not significant between 1.0 and 1.5 km h-1. The best lug angle for float-assisted tiller would be with 13° lug angle operating at 1.0 km h-1 because of high performance index and tractive efficiency.
Citation:
FAJARDO, A., & SUMINISTRADO, D. (2019). Effect of Lug Angle, Forward and Shaft Speeds, and Number of Passes on Puddling Characteristics and Performance of the Tilling Wheel of Float-Assisted Tiller. Philippine Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, 15(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.48196/015.01.2019.01
