Design and Development of Power Operated Rotary Weeder for Rice

Abstract

Weeds  are  serious  problem  in  all  crops  but  they  are  even  more  so  in  “kharif” crops. For weed problem  several  study  and  research  work  has  carried  out  for  its  effective  control  and  measure  by  various  cultural,  chemical  and  mechanical method. The present study on design and development of power operated rotary  weeder for mechanical control of weeds in rice includes the  designing and fabrication of engine operated  mechanical  weeder  considering  the  optimum  shape,  size  and  location  of weeding  tools/cutting  blade. The weeder was provided with a 1.30 kW petrol start-kerosene run engine as prime mower. The power is transmitted from engine to ground wheel or traction wheel and to cutting unit was operated by means of belt and pulley. For cutting unit 3 hubs each containing 2 standard L – shaped blades were fitted on rotary shaft. Two ground wheels were provided made up of two different diameter rings to make the operation smooth and prevent jerks. In addition to the traction wheels, a rear gauge wheel was provided for the depth adjustment of cutting unit. After fabrication, the power weeder was tested under field condition. It was found that the power weeder has field capacity of 0.14 ha/h with 91% weeding efficiency and 60% field efficiency. The operational cost was found to be Rs 808.42 per ha.