ZONE OF SOIL LOOSENING WITH CULTIVATOR SWEEPS

Cultivator  sweeps are placed remotely relative to each other or as parts of combined working tools with spherical discs, chisels and other parts, so the propagation of a zone of soil deformation during their operation at different depths and at different speeds is studied by designers for the calculation of technological runs in order to avoid their clogging with soil. (Research purpose) To determine the dependence of the width of the soil loosening zone with a cultivator sweep on the depth of travel and the speed of travel. (Materials and methods) Studies have been conducted on a stubble soil background after harvesting of winter wheat. Humidity and hardness of soil at a depth of 0 to 30 centimeters varied accordingly from 9 to 13 percent and from 0.28 to 0.87 MPa. The structure of the unit has been represented by the tractor MTZ Belarus 1221,2 and the cultivator KRN-5,6. Each section of the cultivator housed a universal sweep with a design working width of 220 mm. (Results and discussion) It has been found that a sweep forms a loosened strip and a strip of soil scattering, the width of which depends linearly on the tillage depth ranging from 10 to 22 cm and varies in the range from 31 to 42 and 38 to 58 cm, respectively. The unit travel speed ranging from 3 to 13 km/h does not affect the width of the loosening zone, and the zone of soil scattering increases according to the law of a weakly expressed quadratic parabola. The authors present empirical dependences of the width of the loosening and scattering zones on the tillage depth, the travel speed and the sweep width. (Conclusions) It has been found that the interval between the sweeps in one row should not be less than the specified width of the loosening zone, which has been confirmed as exemplified by a successful arrangement  of working elements with a width of 410 mm on the combined units of the RVK series. Combined tools work with high technological reliability for sunflower stubble, without being clogged with soil and plant residues during the main field operations performed according to the minimal impact technology.

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