AbstractDrainage equipment is an important part of paddy field drainage and irrigation system, and its performance research and application are conducive to the promotion and implementation of high‐standard farmland construction. Aiming at the different water demand of rice in different growing stages, low water level control precision, large manual operation and extensive management of existing drainage machinery, a tilting‐plate drainage equipment using upper overflow mode was proposed in this paper. Based on the Geneva mechanism principle, a unique linkage mechanism is designed, which can realize water retaining operation and silt discharge operation through a single motor drive, and the relationship between the motor angle and the water retaining height is established. Through mechanical analysis and dynamic simulation of the mechanism, the motion characteristics of the water baffle, silt plate and the change of the motor torque are studied. A remote control system based on a 4G module is designed to control the drainage equipment easily through the user layer. The performance test of the prototype shows that the precision error of the optimized water retaining height control is less than 3.75%. The maximum height of water retaining operation is 180 mm, and the maximum load of silt discharge operation is 10 kg, which can meet the actual operation requirements. The design is beneficial to improve the precision and intelligence level of paddy field drainage management, and the research process can provide some help for the development and application of this kind of equipment.