MECHANIZATION IN AGRICULTURE
New model of agricultural machine for combined soil tillage with increased productivity
The paper presents a new model of an agricultural machine for combined soil tillage, designed mainly for pre-sowing soil preparation in field crop production and horticulture. The machine combines several technological operations in one pass: cutting and lifting of the untreated soil layer, crushing of soil clods, shredding of plant residues and regulated discharge of the processed material through a grid system. The proposed construction is based on a tractor-mounted implement with two rotating drums equipped with radial hammers, a wedge-shaped comb knife, an intermediate grid, an outlet grid and a rear cover for controlling the size of the processed soil aggregates. The expected increase in productivity is related to the replacement of several consecutive tillage operations with one combined pass, which may reduce field time, fuel consumption, labour input and soil compaction. Since experimental field data are not yet available, the paper also proposes a methodology for future testing, including evaluation of effective field capacity on the machine.