A Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of Tractor Drawn Tie Ridger

Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of Tractor Drawn Tie Ridger

Abstract

Tie ridging is one of the soil and water conservation practices. It controls runoff, prevents erosion, conserves moisture, and thereby increases crop production. There is a necessity to have an implement that would form a ridge to conserve rainwater in dryland conditions. At present in Ethiopia, tie-ridging operation is conducted using human and draft animal power sources. Tie-ridging operation conducted using human and animal draft power is labor-intensive, tedious, and time-consuming. Since the implement was drawn by animals, its field capacity and efficiency were limited. To solve the above problem, this study aimed to design, develop and evaluate the performance of a tractor-drawn tie ridger capable of tie ridging at desired depth and space. The tractor-drawn tie ridger would be developed using locally available materials and consists of the mainframe, central driving wheel, tie ridger, furrow opener, and shank. The following activities were carried out, material selection, design of all component parts, fabrication and assembling the component parts, performance evaluation, data collection, data organizing and data analysis to draw meaning full conclusion. The performances of tractor-drawn tie ridger were evaluated in the laboratory and field. In a laboratory test, the machine was checked for its specifications and operations. The average theoretical field capacity, effective field capacity and field efficiency of the machine were 0.94, 0.67  and 71.24 % respectively. The maximum draft required for the implement is 1,135.23 N. The 40 hp tractor was used to drive this implement. The average depth and width of tie ridge were observed at 22.92 cm and 34.29 cm respectively. The cost of fabrication of the tie ridger was estimated to be approximately about 19,683.45 ETB. Test results in-field evaluation of the tie ridger indicated that it could form tie ridges of 2.78 m × 34.29 cm size. Per hour, cost of operation of tie-ridger is 220.12 ETB/hr.