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Design and Development of a Power Weeder

Mohammed Arshadul Hoque
Senior Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, BARI, Gazipur

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A power weeder was designed and developed in FMP Engineering divisional workshop, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur in 2009-10. The drawing was drawn by AutoCAD 2004 software. Then the weeder was fabricated according to design with locally available materials and spare parts. A gearbox was incorporated to get the facility of forward and backward motion of the weeder. A hand clutch connected with a dog clutch was also added to get the turning facilities. The weeder was tested with its rotary blade attachment for weeding maize, soybean and groundnut in 2009-10. The treatments were T₁– Weedy (control), T₂–Hand weeding and T₃ –Weeding by power weeder. Among the treatments, T₂ and T₃ produced statistically similar yields, but significantly higher than that of T₁. Mechanical weeding by the power weeder saved significant weeding cost and associated labour requirement. T₃ produced the highest benefit and the lowest weeding cost.

Keywords: Design Development, Power Weeded, Instrument development

Location: Gazipur

Start Date:

End Date: 23-12-2010

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Manipulation

Objectives:

a) To design and develop a power weeder for row crops b) To test the performance of the weeder for weeding maize and other row crops

Methodology:

The weeder was designed for upland crops. Three dimensional drawing of the power weeder was done by Auto CAD 2004. It was fabricated at workshop of FMP Engineering Division, BARI, Gazipur in 2009-10. It weighed about 145 kg with rotary blade attachment. Ground wheel: The weeder was supported on two ground wheels made of 50 mm flat bar. The wheel diameter was 457 mm. Lugs, made of 40x40x5 mm MS angle bar of 12 mm height, were 55 mm apart to provide grip on soil. The wheel to wheel distance was adjustable between 560 mm and 610 mm which allowed operating between 30, 40, 70, cm rows. Laboratory test: To ascertain various design parameter of the weeder, laboratory test was carried out to determine the engine speed, rotary speed and fuel consumption. Fuel consumption was determined by operating the power weeder at field speed in tilled soil and measuring the time and volume of fuel required. The experiment was conducted at the research farm of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur during rabi season of 2009-2010. The soil was clay loam. The experimental plots were well pulverized with a tractor and levelled with a bullock drawn ladder. Soil moisture was recorded before each treatment was imposed. Weeds species wise density of all weeds was recorded before and just after the treatments imposed. The weed sampling was done randomly in middle three rows in 50x75 cm quadrants. Three steel frames (50x75 cm) were placed in the middle of the row positioning 75 cm sides along the row.

Source of Information:

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) : 100000

Achievement/Findings:

The weeder was tested with its rotary blade attachment for weeding maize, soybean and groundnut in 2009-10. The treatments were T₁– Weedy (control), T₂–Hand weeding and T₃–Weeding by power weeder. Among the treatments, T₂ and T₃produced statistically similar yields, but significantly higher than that of T₁_.Mechanical weeding by the power weeder saved significant weeding cost and associated labour requirement. T₃produced the highest benefit and the lowest weeding cost.

Knowledge Management: Journal, Report/Proceedings