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 (DP). 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.