Design, Development and Evaluation of a Lateral and Longitudinal Self-Leveling System for a Mounted Moldboard Plow

One of the basic adjustments in application of agricultural implements, particularly tillage tools, is their work in a leveled state while in operation. Throughout the ongoing research, and by application of electronic and hydraulic circuits, an intelligent system was designed, developed and evaluated. The device is expected to perform the plow longitudinal as well as lateral adjustments at the beginning and during the plowing operations. A mounted moldboard plow was made use of, while simultaneously making measurements and recordings of the depth of plowing. A split plot experiment in the framework of a complete randomized block design of three replications (3×2×3) namely: the leveling of the plow in 3 levels (longitudinal, lateral, vs. the common practice (conventional); basic plowing depth at 2 (15 and 20 cm) levels and 3 levels of forward speed (3, 5, 8 km/hr) was employed. Variance analysis of the measured plowing depths indicated significant differences (P<0.05) as regards the interaction effects among the three factors of plow leveling, plowing depth, and forward speed. The plowing depths, measured at different treatment levels of the above three variables (LSD of 0.05) indicates the necessity of a close control of the longitudinal as well as lateral adjustments of the plow. Quick response of the system, particularly at higher speeds is indispensable. In other words, the speed of reflection of the system must be closely related to the forward speed.