Evaluating the Performance of Rotary and Tine Inter-Row Cultivators at Different Working Speeds

An effective inter-row cultivator must destroy the weeds in the inter-row close to crop area without damaging the plants on the rows. Therefore, it is important to understand the soil disturbance of inter-row cultivation tools for optimizing the design and the use of inter-row cultivators. In this study, the performance of two different inter-row cultivators (the rotary inter-row cultivator and the tine inter-row cultivator) was investigated at three different working speeds (3.52, 6.11 and 7.82 km h(-1)) and at a working depth of 70 mm under corn planted field conditions. The performance indicators of inter-row cultivators included the soil burial Depth on crop (D), the unaffected strip Width around crop row (W), the Weeding efficiency (We), and the Damaged Plant ratio (D-P). The results of the study indicated that the rotary inter-row cultivator could be operated at 6.11 km h(-1) due to acceptable soil movement and low crop damage. However, the tine inter-row cultivator resulted in unacceptable soil movement and crop damage at 6.11 and 7.82 km h(-1) working speeds.