Development and evaluation of an active - Passive tillage machine

An active-passive tillage machine consisting of 16 rotor active elements and four passive elements with provision to change the depth of passive tool with respective to active tool and also rotor speed was developed. Studies were conducted in the field (black clay loam soil) by varying the forward velocity (3 levels). The results obtained for the different combination of active and passive tillage tools (5 levels) were computed and analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn. The effect of all active-passive tools had significant influence on draft at all levels of forward velocity. For the passive tool, the slip increased steadily as the forward speed was increased. But for the active-passive tools, the rate of increase in slip was less due to the negative draft produced by the active tool. Variation in fuel consumption was noted among the tools and the reduction in fuel consumption was 20 percent for active + four passive elements as compared to that of four passive elements. The torque required to operate the active tool increased by 15 percent as the forward velocity was changed from 0.53 to 1.25 m/s. The DBHP required for the active tool decreased beyond a forward velocity of 0.7 m/s and reached zero at 1.03 m/s for the active tool. For the passive tool, the DBHP required increased steadily as the forward velocity was increased. The PTO power required to operate the active tool was greater than when it was combined with the passive tool. For the active + four passive elements combination, the rate of increase in PTO power required was less than when the forward velocity was increased beyond 0.8 m/s. As the forward velocity was increased, the total power required increased steadily for passive and combination of active-passive tools. The energy, time and cost of operation for the active-passive tillage tool was less by 64.7 to 71.3, 61,7 to 69.9 and 62.2 to 70.3 percent, respectively, as compared to the different implement combinations to obtain almost the same quality of tilth.