Effect of Forward Speed and Drive Wheel on the Performance of a Semi-Automatic Cassava Planter

Abstract

An experiment to determine the effects of the forward speed and type of wheel on the performance of a semi-automatic cassava planter was carried out at the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. Tractor forward speeds of 1.5, 1.8, 2.1, 2.3 and 2.6 km/h were used at a constant soil depth of 100 mm on a well prepared sandy clay loam soil. The field performance of the planter was determined using standard equations. A quadratic relationship was observed between the forward speed and germination percentage varying between 77.78 and 85.19%. It was also found that the effective field capacity increased with an increase in the forward speed in the pneumatic and rigid wheel experiments. The efficiency decreased with an increase in the forward speed in the two experiments at 100% cutting efficiency at all the forward speeds. Field performance of 97.20% field efficiency was achieved at a forward speed of 1.5 km/h and when the planter was operated with rigid wheels. The effect of the forward speed on the performance of the planter is significant (P<0.05). The results suggest that the planter should be used with the rigid wheels at an optimum forward speed of 1.5 km/h.