THE EFFECT OF KINEMATICS PARAMETER ON A SOD CUTTING PERFORMANCE

A sod cutting machine was designed and constructed for cutting sod layers to be ready for using in garden and club landscape. Experiments were carried out to improve its performance and minimize the operational cost. The performance of the sod cutting machine in terms of productivity, cutting efficiency, cutting energy, and cost was investigated as a function of change in kinematics parameter (ratio of rotor peripheral velocity to forward speed), rotor radius and cutting depth. The experimental results revealed that the use of the fabricated sod cutting machine maximized cutting efficiency to 85% and minimized both energy by 20% and cost to 2.2 LE/m^2 under the following conditions: 1. Operating of the manufactured machine at a kinematic parameter of 4.0 which corresponded to forward speed of 1.2 km/h, knife velocity of 1.36 m/s and rotor radius of 1.3 cm. 2. Adjusting of the knife of the manufactured machine prototype at cutting depth of 3 cm.