Effect of Blade Shape and Rotor Speed of Rotavator on Pulverization and Mixing Quality of Soil

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of commercially available rotavator blade shapes (L, C and J) at different rotor speed (180, 215 and 250 rpm) in clay loam soil to find out the best combination of blade shape and rotary speed. These treatment combinations were compared with control (Pulverization with single pass of disc harrow followed by single pass of cultivator). J shape blades gave minimum pulverization index and maximum mixing index (8.57 mm and 93.48% respectively) at 250 rpm rotor speed as compared to C (9.84 mm and 92.24% respectively) and L (10.18 mm and 90.11% respectively) shaped blades and control (15.36 mm). The average fuel consumption was maximum for J shape blades followed by L and C shape blades respectively for both pulverization and mixing operation. C shape blades had minimum fuel consumption as compared to other two blade shapes for pulverization and mixing operation respectively. Based on quality of tilth, J shape blade at 250 rpm rotor speed can be considered as the best combination for pulverization and C shape blade for mixing as it consumes lesser energy (15.3%).