Technical parameters of modified seed drill for sowing grain crops in heavy soils

Abstract

The work objective is to create a new seeder designed to work in heavy soils. The main purpose of the modified design is the elimination of difficulties occurring at seeding, especially when there are crop remains in the soil, and former cultivated crop residues on its surface. Experiments were carried out under the following variable factors: seeder speed, operating depth, tillage tool design, seed slot height and distance between seed slots, angle of dropping grain, distance between tool hulls, and distance between the sowing slot and the tine. The research results suggest that the application of the modified seed drill allows improving the uniformity of the grain distribution in the soil. In this case, the yield is increased by almost 14% and reaches the level of 86.7%. The optimal parameters of the modified design include the following: the distance between the tillage tool body and the slot seed opening is 50 cm; the angle of dropping the seed material from the slots on the soil is 60⁰; the height of the grain fall from the slots is 50 cm; the distance between the slot seed openings is 17 cm; the seeder speed is 8 km/h. It is found that tillage tools fitted with rigid props with vane shovels make the greatest effect.