Study on Blade Characteristics of Commercially Available Rotavators in Punjab

Tillage is an operation performed to obtain a desirable soil structure for a seedbed or rootbed. A granular structure is desirable to allow rapid infiltration and good retention of rainfall and to minimize resistance to root penetration. Rotavator (also called as rotary tiller) is a tractor operated cultivating implement that breaks or works the soil with the help of rotating blades. The use of rotavator is increasing due to its versatility in doing a good quality tillage job with minimum number of passes. The rotavator do simultaneous ploughing and harrowing in dry and optimum soil moisture in single operation. In different parts of the world a lot of research on rotavator blade has been carried out. This paper briefly reviews the rotavator blades used by the manufacturer of Punjab. All the 14 firms under study use L-type Blade. Maximum number of machines (57.14%) has hardness of blade in the range of 35–45 HRC. In most of the rotavators used, placement & angle of blades on flange w.r.t. blades on consecutive flanges are helical manner & angle varies from 13 to 32°. Diameter of hole for fixing blade to flange was also not uniform. The weight of one blade is in the range of 750–1150 g. Maximum number of machines (64.29%) has blade sharpening angle in the range of 15–20°.