Design and Development of Power Operated Rotary Weeder for Rice

Weeds are serious problem in all crops but they are even more so in “kharif” crops. For weed problem several study and research work has carried out for its effective control and measure by various cultural, chemical and mechanical method. The present study on design and development of power operated rotary weeder for mechanical control of weeds in rice includes the designing and fabrication of engine operated mechanical weeder considering the optimum shape, size and location of weeding tools/cutting blade. The weeder was provided with a 1.30 kW petrol start-kerosene run engine as prime mower. The power is transmitted from engine to ground wheel or traction wheel and to cutting unit was operated by means of belt and pulley. For cutting unit 3 hubs each containing 2 standard L – shaped blades were fitted on rotary shaft. Two ground wheels were provided made up of two different diameter rings to make the operation smooth and prevent jerks. In addition to the traction wheels, a rear gauge wheel was provided for the depth adjustment of cutting unit. After fabrication, the power weeder was tested under field condition. It was found that the power weeder has field capacity of 0.14 ha/h with 91% weeding efficiency and 60% field efficiency. The operational cost was found to be Rs 808.42 per ha.