Development and Performance Testing of a Tractor Trailer-cum-Farmyard Manure Spreader

A tractor operated farmyard manure spreader of 2 tonne capacity was designed and developed at Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal. The developed machine consists of two wheeled tractor-trailer, trapezoidal shaped manure box, sheet sliding mechanism to control the manure delivery rate, feeding auger and manure spreader unit. The machine was tested in the field by using a 35 hp tractor at forward speeds of 0.41 to 1.12 ms⁻¹ with the farmyard manure of average bulk density of 400 kgm⁻³ and moisture content 28%. During the field-testing, application rate of manure and coefficient of variation of uniformity of distribution ranged from 2.0 to 36 t/ha and 8 to 13% at manure delivery rate of 1.05 to 3.06 kg/s, respectively. The machine worked satisfactorily and achieved uniform application of farmyard manure in the field and reduced human drudgery significantly as compared to manual spreading of piled manure in the field. The field capacity of machine ranged from 0.23 to 0.58 ha/h at the tractor forward speed of 0.41 to 1.12 ms⁻¹.