• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.369-378
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to developed high-efficient rotary tillage system for a power tiller by improving the rotary blade. A kind of the rotary blade with single-edged blade(DS) was developed that requires lower tillage energy than conventional double-edged blade(CD) on the design theory for Japanese rotary blade. In order to find out the tillage characteristics between the single-edged blade and the double-edged blade for power tiller, experiments were performed in soil-bins which were filled up clay loam, loam and sandy loam, and then analyzed the effects of the factors such as soil texture, travelling speed, rotational speed, and tillage depth to each of the blades. And field tests were carried out to compare tillage performances of the two blades using rotary cultivator driven by conventional power tiller. The results of this study were summarized as follows; 1) On the soil bin experiment, it was found that tillage torque of the single-edged blade was less than the ones of the double-edged blade. The decreasing ratios of maximum tillage torque of the single-edged blade to the ones of the double-edged blade were 1 to 8% at clay loam, 5 to 20% at loam and 9 to 31% at sandy loam, respectively. 2) By the field tests, that the tillage performances with the single-edged blade compared with the double-edged blade was improved about 19% in field capacity, about 34% in fuel consumption, and 12.5% in soil breaking ratio. Furthermore, the fluctuation of engine speed, the variation of exhaust gas temperature, and the amount of soil clogging on the blade and straw wound on the rotary shaft showed lower values with the developed blade than the conventional blade. So, it may be concluded that tillage performance by the developed single-edged blade was improved compared with the one by the conventional double-edged blade.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.304-312
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• 2016

Purpose: Soil strength has been measured using a cone penetrometer, which is making it difficult to obtain the spatial data required for precision agriculture. Our objectives were to evaluate real-time horizontal soil strength (RHSS) to measure soil strength in real time while moving across the field. Using the RHSS data, the tillage depth was determined, and the power consumption of a tractor and rotavators were compared. Methods: The horizontal soil-strength index (HSSI) obtained by the RHSS was compared with the cone index (CI), which was measured using a cone penetrometer. Comparison analysis in accordance with the measurement depth that increased at 5-cm interval was conducted using kriged maps at six sensing depths. For tillage control and evaluation of the power consumption, the system was installed with a potentiometer for tillage depth, a torque sensor from the rear axle, and a power take-off (PTO) shaft. Results: The HSSI was lower than the CI, but they were the same at 54.81% of the total grids for the 5-cm depth and at 3.85% for the 10-cm depth. In accordance with the recommended tillage map, tillage operations between 0 and 15 cm left 2.3% and 7% residue cover on the soil, and that between 20 and 10 cm covered a wider utilization of 3% and 18.4%, respectively. When the tillage depth was 15 cm, the comparison result of the power requirements between the PTO and rear axle in terms of control performance revealed that the maximum power requirements of the axle and PTO were 44.63 and 23.24 kW, respectively. Conclusions: An HSSI measurement system was evaluated by comparison with the conventional soil strength measurement system (CI) and applied to a tractor to compare the tillage power consumption. Further study is needed on its application to various farm works using a tractor for precision agriculture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.1073-1087
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• 1993

Many investigations have been carried out concerning tillage tool performance, including energy requirement . Since the performance of tillage could also be evaluated through the change of soil , then it is necessary to investigate the soil cutting process and the pattern of soil failure. This study was conducted using indoor soil bin, STILT (Soil Tillage Tool Interaction) system. The result shows that the soil bin experiments could provide the clear understandings about phenomena of soil failure. The movement of sil , the successive failures was clearly visualized. The relations between the horizontal and vertical forces to the linear motion blade, the shear force on the shear plane which devides soil layer into several segments were indicated by the fluctuation/vibration of the recorded resistance and forces. The results show that the horizontal force(Fx) and vertical force (Fz) develope their frequencies as the change of velocity of blade (10, 20, 40 mm/sec) for each cutting angle (35, 45, 60 degrees). Resultant force of Fx and Fz are much influenced by the cutting angle.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.113-121
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• 2010

Land consolidation ratio for rice paddy fields reached to 64.7% as of 2008 in Korea, and this also accelerated automation of field machinery. Especially, research on autonomous tractors has been continuously conducted. Tillage is one of the labor-, energy-, and time-consuming field operations. Most important requirements for autonomous tractors would be travelling path planning and electronic system to control the tractor to follow the path. The instruction of computer was required to conduct the tillage operation in field with unmanned traveling tractor. This instruction was coincidently used in the control of the traveling path and the motion of tractor. The objectives of the study were 1) to characterize and model tillage operating sequence, turning pattern, and 2) to develop tillage path formation programs for autonomous tractor and evaluate the performance.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2002

This study was conducted to develop a dry paddy seeder of strip tillage. The prototype is 8 rows drill seeder, which is composed of a strip tillage, sowing and fertilizing device, and pressing wheels to do the strip tillage, sowing, fertilizing, and draining ditch, simultaneously. The performances of prototype was evaluated through the investigation of fuel consumption, tillage torque, ratio of soil breaking, and economical efficiency and the results were compared with these of a dry paddy seeder that needs whole tillage. According to the USDA textural classification, the experiment field was composed of sandy loam which consisted of 56.8 of sand, 30.2 of silt and 13.0 % of clay, respectively. Its hardness ranged from 952 to 1,673 kPa depending on the soil depth, and its soil moisture content was 24.9%(d. b.) Fuel consumption of the prototype was 5,015g/hr at 2,000 rpm of engine, which was consequently 64% smaller than that of the conventional dry paddy seeder. For the tillage torque, it ranged from 132 to 206N$.$m depending on the tillage pitch, which was 10∼30% smaller than that of the conventional dry paddy seeder. The ratio of soil braking of the prototype was 87∼98%, whereas that of the conventional dry paddy seeder was 80∼97%. The working performance of the prototype was surveyed to be 3.8hours/ha, which was about 5 times higher than that of the conventional dry paddy seeder. The cost reduction of 26.3% was obtained by using the prototype.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.384-389
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• 2002

No-tillage (NT) practice for corn production has advantages of reduction of soil erosion and energy conservation. Research on effects of NT for sweet corn or super sweet corn is very limited. Hybrids of sugary (su) and shrunken-2 (sh2) were tested under NT and conventional tillage (CT) practices to investigate plant characters, ear characters, fresh yield, and grain yield. Sugary hybrids were Golden Cross Bantam 70 (GCB70), Sprint, Geumdanok, and Danok3. Shrunken-2 hybrids were BSS9472, Cambella90, GSS9299, Jubilee, KS-Y-65, and Chodangok1. Emergence rates under NT were lower than those under CT for su, while there was no difference between tillage systems for sh2. There were no differences between CT and NT for days to tasseling and silking, plant height, and ear height for both su and sh2. Ear characters such as ear length, number of kernel rows, number of kernels per row, and t100-kernel weight under NT were not significantly different from those under CT. There were no differences between two tillage practice for fresh and grain yield, rather they showed trend of increases under NT practices. Results from this trial indicate that NT practice for both su and sh2 cultivation may be possible to recommend to farmers.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.423-430
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to develop high-speed rotary tillage system for a power tiller by improving the rotary blade and the power train of transmission. Mechanical structure of gear train of rotary drive of conventional power tiller was simplified so that power can be transmitted directly from second shaft to tilling speed change shaft by rotating freely the transfer gear which changes the direction of rotation of shafts using needle bearing installed into middle shaft. A new gear train suitable for the single-edged rotary blade and high-speed rotary drive was developed with the rotational speed of rotary shaft faster than 7.5% at 1st-speed and 1.4% at 2nd-speed the one of conventional system by changing the numbers of teeth of gears of middle shaft, tilling speed change shaft and PTO shaft. Using the developed gear train for high-speed rotary drive, field tests were performed to compare tillage performances by the developed single-edged blade and by the conventional double-edged blade. The results showed that the performances by the single-edged blade compared with the one by the double-edged blade was improved about 18% in field capacity, about 34% in fuel consumption, and 9.4% in soil crushing ratio. Therefore, it may be concluded that tillage performance by the single-edged blade was improved compared to the one by the conventional blade. Evaluation of the developed system consisting of single-edged blade and gear train for high-speed rotary drive in field revealed that tillage performance of the developed system was similar to the one of field test conducted using the system consisting of single-edged blade and gear train for rotary drive of conventional power tiller However, considering the higher cone index of the upland field where evaluation was carried out compare to the one of the ordinary paddy field, it may be concluded that tillage performance of the developed rotary tilling system better than the one of conventional system.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was conducted to understand the work performance of crank-type rotavators and compare them with those of rotary-type rotavators in Korean farmland conditions. Methods: Tillage operations were carried out using both rotavators with the same nominal rotavating width and rated power. During the operations, PTO speed and torque, actual work speed, and rotavating width and depth were measured. To evaluate work performance, pulverizing ratio, inversion ratio, and specific volumetric tilled soil were calculated and compared for each rotavator. Results: It is found that the crank-type rotavator has better specific volumetric tilled soil performance and deep tillage, while the pulverizing ratio is worse. Conclusions: Crank-type and rotary type rotavator have diffenent properties each other in several work performances. It's important, therefore, to choose a suitable type of rotavator that satisfy the farmer's requirements in accordance with the condition of field and the purpose of tillage operation.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.160-165
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• 1991

Growth performance of dry seeded paddy rice was studied at four N levels (10, 15, 20, and 25 kg/l0a) in tillage and no-tillage systems. Althougth the number of seedlings and maximum tillers tended to be higher and heading date was delayed by 2 days in tillage compared with those in no-tillage system, grainyield, yield components, lodging related characteristics, and N uptake were similar between two tillage ,systems. As N level increased, grain yield increased due to increased panicle number althougth the number of spikelets per panicle and percent ripended grains were similar and I, 000 grain weight decreased slightly. {Lodging index increased with increased N level due to higher plant height and decreased breaking strength and (culm base weigth, but lodging was not occurred in the field. Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents of culm base were similar among N levels. Concentration and uptake of N increased as N level increased.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.397-406
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• 2011

In this study, surveys on operation status of the 73 tractors with rated power of over 75 kW from six provinces in Korea were performed to obtain basic data required for development and efficient use of the high-power and high-performance tractors. And types of tractors and implements, operation crops, types of operations, annual operation areas, annual operation days, annual operation hours, operation speeds and widths, and problems and improvements in use were investigated. Most (91.7%) of the tractor surveyed were operated for forage and silage crops such as rice straw, whole barley, rye grass, reed canary grass, sudan grass, and the remains were operated for upland crops such as ginseng, sweet potato, potato, chinese cabbage, radish. Main operations of the tractors were cutting, baling, and wrapping for forage crops, plow tillage, rotary tillage, and manure spreading. About half (47.9%) of the tractors were used exclusively for forage crop harvesting such as forage crop cutting, forage baling, and bale wrapping, 24.5% of the tractors were used exclusively for plow or rotary tillage, and 27.4% of the tractors were used for both forage crop harvesting, and plow or rotary tillage. For the tractors with power ranges of 75~83, 89~94, 98~101, 113, 124 kW, average annual operation areas per tractor for plow tillage, rotary tillage, forage crop harvesting (cutting, baling, wrapping), and manure spreading operations were analyzed as 112.6. 144.8, 158.9. 390.0. 215.6 ha, respectively. and total average annual operation area per tractor was 171.3 ha. Average annual operation days per tractor for those operations were analyzed as 24.1, 28.9, 38.3, 55.4, 33.4, respectively, and total average annual operation days per tractor was 33.6. Average annual operation hours per tractor for them were analyzed as 260.0, 321.6, 408.1, 664.8, 413.8, respectively, and total average annual operation hours per tractor for the all tractors was 377.1. Ranges of operation widths of plow tillage, rotary tillage, forage crop cutting, forage baling, bale wrapping, and manure spreading operations were shown as 1.5~2.6, 2.3~3.0, 1.8~3.2, 1.8~2.0, 1.8~2.3, 3.1~6.6 m, respectively. Ranges of operation speed of plow tillage, rotary tillage, forage crop cutting, forage baling, bale wrapping, and manure spreading were shown as 6~9, 4~11, 9~16, 8~15, 8~17, 12~16 km/h, respectively.