Design of a Self-propelled Single Row Zero-till Pea Planter for Hills

Abstract

A self-propelled single row zero-till pea planter was designed for use in hill agriculture in North-east India. An inverted T-type 30 mm wide furrow opener was designed to cut and open the untilled clay soil for planting seeds. The power required to cut the soil and overcome rolling resistance were determined for the design of the furrow opener. A vertical plate seed metering device with positive seed knockout device suitable for pea seeds was used in the planter. The seed hopper was designed to cover an area of 1000 m2 in one filling. A pair of steel rollers was designed to maintain an uniform depth of furrow and covering seeds with soil. A ground wheel was designed to provide power to the seed metering shaft. Accessories, namely the handle, wheels and shaft assembly, main frame and vertical frame were designed for better performance of the planter. The power transmission system was also designed with a belt-tension-type clutch and gearbox to transfer power from the engine to the wheels. A 6.5 kW IC petrol engine was used as a power source. The designed planter was fabricated, and performance of the planter was evaluated under actual field condition using pea seeds at two forward speeds of 0.59 and 0.67 m.s-1 at 60 mm depth of planting. The average seed-to-seed spacing and depth of seed placement were 105.7 mm and 42.5 mm, respectively. The planter could cover an area of 0.06 ha.h-1 with 75.3% field efficiency.