EFFECTS OF FORWARD SPEED ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A DISC PLOUGH

¹Kudabo, E.A and ²Gbadamosi, L

^1&2 Department of Agricultural Engineering and Water Resources

Institute of Technology, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin

E-mail: emmanuelkudabo1@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

The study was carried out on the effect of forward speed and depth of cut on the performance of a disc plough in silt clay loamy soil at soil moisture content of 7.3% (db) and bulk density of 1.73g/cm³ at the departmental farm of Agricultural Engineering Department, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin. The mounted disc plough was tested at three forward speeds of 7km/h, 10km/h and 12km/h, two different depth of cut of 15cm and 20cm were used.  The result shows that Soil Inversion increased positively as forward sped and depth of cut increases.  The travel reduction increased negatively in both depth of cut with increasing forward speeds.  Higher percentages of small soil aggregates were produced at lower forward speed and 15cm depth of cut. The result further reveals that the rate of Fuel Consumption increases as the forward Speech increases.

Keywords: Effect, forward speed, depth of cut, Disc Plough, Travel Reduction, Soil Inversion, Soil aggregate and Fuel Consumption.