Results of determining the agrotechnical indicators of a flat cutter for fine tillage

¹ Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution, Agrarian Research Center “Donskoy”, Lenin st., 14, 347740 Zernograd, Russia
² Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education, “Don State Technical University”, 1 Gagarin Square, 344000 Rostov-on-Don, Russia

^* Corresponding author: i.v.bozhko@mail.ru

Abstract

In modern conditions, most soils are exposed to erosion processes. In this regard, it is necessary to control the amount of dust particles in the surface layer of the soil. Fine tillage with flat-cutting working bodies solves this issue by creating a finely cloddy soil structure of the upper fertile layer. The article considers the developed original design of a flat cutter for fine tillage. The results of experimental studies on the determination of agrotechnical indicators for the treated background and untreated stubble background are presented. In the course of the research, such indicators were established as: the average actual working depth, the standard deviation of the working depth from the given one, the coefficient of variation in the working depth, crumbling of the soil by the working bodies, the moisture content inside the reservoir, the number of erosion-dangerous particles in the surface soil layer. As a result of the research, it was found that the flat cutter qualitatively performs the specified depth of tillage with an acceptable deviation, the ridge size is in the range of 3.6-3.9 cm, which is allowed by agrotechnical requirements, the number of lumps up to 25 mm in size after the passage of the working body is 82-85% . With shallow tillage with a flat cutter, the removal of wet layers to the soil surface is not observed. The flat cutter can function qualitatively on an untreated stubble background as part of a combined unit that is not equipped with disk working bodies.