Operation and Management of Primary ,Secondary
and special Tillage Implements and Tools(L)
•
Prepared by
Er. Uttam Raj Timilsina(MSc.Engineering,IIT Roorkee)
Professor of Agricultural Engineering,AFU
uttamrajtimilsina@gmail.com, 9841684994
For
Batch 2069/2070,BSc.Ag,4th semester(071/7/16-071/10/15)
Course Code:AEN-301,Farm Power and Machinery(1+1)

Primary Tillage Implement
 Mould Board Plough(MB Plough):
it is a plough of 14th century in Asia after
indigenous and wooden plough.
It is used in area of sufficient rainfall where
heavy weed growth ,heavy green manure as
well as compost,farm yard manure need to be
overturned under the surface for covering as
well as proper decay.

MB Plow…
It is used for preparing field/ seed
bed,controlling weeds,insects,pest,and
maintaining a suitable or pulverized soil condition
Animal drawn single bottom walking type of size
15-20 cm(furrow width) as well as tractor drawn
multi bottom MB plow of 30,35 ,40 cm and even
greater size are famous in Asian region
The MB plows are design to cut,lift,and invert a
section of soil known as furrow slice with heavy
weeds or green manure or compost/farm yard
manures etc more or less in pulverized form.

Furrow detail
 Furrow:When a plow is used for ploughing it cuts a trench called
furrow
 Furrow slice:it is a ribbon of soil cut,lifted and thrown to the side is
called furrow slice
 Back furrow: When ploughing is started from the middle of the
plot there seems a ridge portion made by the overlapping of furrow
slices with each other and called back furrow
 Dead furrow: When plowing is started from a corner of a plot then
plow ends at the middle of the plot making a trench of about twice
the width of normal furrow and called the dead furrow
 Furrow wall: The unbroken side of the furrow is called the furrow
wall

MB plow…
 Classification of MB plows
 Animal drawn or walking type
 Tractor drawn or tractor mounted type
 One way or two way type: which is animal drawn walking type and designed to
throw the furrow slice to only one side .The two way type are useful for furrow
opener,channel maker which throw furrow slice in both way making
channel/furrow at the centre
 Turn wrest type:It is designed with a special provision/fitting of hand lever that
the direction of furrow slice throwing face or plow face can be change or alter by
the help of hand lever at the plot end where bullock has to take complete turn
 Right hand or left hand plough: Most of plows are of right hand type throwing the
furrow slice at right direction as operator use his right hand to hold the handle of
plow and to walk on unplowed land
 Reversible gang type MB plow: It is mostly tractor drawn and reversible gang of
multi bottom MB plow are fitted in reverse direction facing to have the same side
of furrow slice thrown when taking the complete turn by tractor at the end point
of farm to come at the reverse direction of motion.

Primary Tillage Implement…..
 Parts of MB plow and their function
Plow bottem
Plow accessories
Plow bottom:it is the basic unit of MB plow which
consists of share,,mouldboard,landside,,shin,
frog/frame
The mould board, shin, share and landside are
fastened by nut bolt at the frog/frame
It performs the main function of plowing i.e cutting soil
as a furrow slice, lifting and inverting the furrow slice

MB plow…
 Share: which is the main part of MB plow which first
penetrates into the soil with facing maximum wear and
tear
• Share consist of share point which enter into soil,
share throat(cutting edge) which cut the furrow slice
from soil, share wing which support the plow bottom
and share gunnel which support the plow bottom
against the furrow wall
• Plow shares are made of high carbon steel as it can be
sharpened welded or reconditioned by welding special
wear resisting material on the wearing points as well as
special treatment done

MB plow…
 The common type of MB plow shares are:
• Slip share: The entire share is replaceable after it has worn
out or in case of non functional due to wear and tear
• Slip nose share: only share point is replaceable unit
• Shin share : Similar to slip share but an extension called
shin is provided to prevent the mould board from wearing
along its cutting edge
• Bar share: provided with an extension on its gunnel side
which act as the landside of the plow bottom
• Bar point share: a steel bar point fastened to the frog
pushed forward when wears out or wear and tear is visible

MB plow…
 Types of mould board:Depending upon different soil
conditions,soil textures ,moisture content,vegetative
cover of land requires mould boards of varying shapes
,sizes and type to do a good job of plowing with better
soil pulverization
• General type: suitable for general farm use
• ,Stubble type: suitable for old ground plowing
• Sod or breaker type: suitable for grass land
• slat type: suitable for sticky soil
• high speed type: suitable for tractor drawn and for
general farm use

MB plow…
Landside:
• It is the flat plate which runs against the furrow
wall or it is the part of plow bottom which slides
along the face of furrow wall and keep the
bottom moving straight ahead providing stability
against tilting the plow and fastened to the frog.
• It consists of a replaceable landside heel at the
rear bottom end which rubs against the furrow
sole
• It is replaced before vertical suction of the plough
is disturbed by the wear and tear of heel.

Frog or Frame:
• It is that part of plow bottom to which the
share, mould board,landside ,shin are
attached by nut bolt system at plow bottom
site and standard beam with plow frame are
attached at its upper part
Shin:It is the cutting edge of the mould board
just above the landside.

MB Plough……
 Plough Accessories:
• For the walking type of plow the beam, hitch and handle
are considered as accessories
• Generally straight wooden beam are used on walking plow
• Depth of plowing is adjusted by the vertical hitch
• Rolling coulters of 30-45 cm dia are used for 25-40 cm size
bottom of plows to cut trash,crop stubbles and help to
keep the plow from clogging
• Coulters are set about 5 cm up then the depth of plowing
as well as 2cm outside the landside

MB plow…
• Plough Adjustment:
 Vertical or down suction:For proper penetration and efficient
operation of MB plow a vertical clearance of 3mm-5mm is provided
near the share and the landside joint which is called vertical or
down suction
 Horizontal or land Suction:There should be a side clearance of
5mm in the plow at the joint of share and moldboard/ shin to
maintain the plow body against wear out
 Throat clearance:It is the vertical clearance between share point
and plow beam which allow to adjust the depth of plow and the
plow may not get choked while ploughing under the green manure
crop or grassy field


Primary tillage implement
 Disc Plows
 Developed during 1890-1900 A D
 Developed to reduce friction by making a rolling bottom instead of
rubbing bottom of MB plow along furrow
 It is designed to work in dry climate regions where soil is rough and
stony,as well as heavy clay soil, sticky soils,and land requiring deep
plowing for reclamation purpose
 Used properly where MB plow does not work or can not turn
furrow slice and required more drawbar power due to more
rubbing action rather than rolling action in disc plow
 Its working ability or plow penetration as well as plow width
depends mainly upon its weight of the disc plow as a whole and
inclination of disc at horizontal and vertical plane known as disc
angle and tilt angle(angle of inclination) respectively

Primary tillage implement……
 Weight of tractor drawn disc plow range is 180-540 kg/disc and
animal drawn disc plow is about 30 kg /disc
 Disc angle is about of 45 degree with the direction of motion,tilt
angle (tilted back) is in the range of 15-25 degree in reference to
vertical plane
 The diameter of disc blade is 45 cm in case of animal drawn and 60-
80 cm in case of tractor drawn
 The concavity varies between 8-10 cm in case of tractor drawn
 Generally round concave steel disc sharpened on the edges are
bolted on supports suspended from the main frame
 Animal drawn disc plow has single disc whereas tractor drawn has
1-7 disc blades and bigger one has up to 32 disc blades spaced
about 30 cm apart on a gang

Primary tillage implement..
 The gang of tractor drawn disc plow consists of hitch
bolt,disc,disc scraper, disc hub ,rear furrow wheel, beam or
frame, lift crank
 When the plow is pulled forward the individual disc rotates
on its own axis ,the furrow slice being thrown
 Adjustment for the depth and width of furrow can be done
by changing the tilt and disc angle
 as the tilt angle is increased depth of cutting decrease .
 As the disc angle is increased the width of furrow is
increased
 As the weight is increased depth of penetration increased
 Increased disc angle and decreased tilt angle will improve
better penetration under hard soil condition

Secondary Tillage Implements
 Harrows:These are the secondary tillage
implements used to crush the clods and crops
stalks/ crop stubbles/crop residues/weeds, to
pulverize the soil,to destroy weeds,to mix the
manure and fertilizers with soil,in seed bed
preparation and in some cases to cover the
seeds with soil and to level the farm etc

Secondary tillage implement..
 Disc Harrows
• Single action harrows
• Double action/tandem harrows
• Offset harrows
 Drag harrows
• Spike tooth harrows
• Spring tooth harrows
 Cultivators/Tillers
 Rigid tine tillers/cultivators
 Springed tine tillers/cultivators
 Rotary tillers/cultivators
 Rotavators
 Pulverizers and rollers

Secondary Tillage Implement…
 Disc Harrows
• Tractor Drawn
• Animal Drawn
 Types of tractor drawn harrows
• Single action harrow: I t consist of two gangs of disc placed end to end
which throw soil in opposite direction.The cutting width ranges from 1.2-6
meter.The diameter of disc is 45 cm and spacing between disc is 15-25 cm
• Offset harrow: It has two gangs placed one behind the other with the
gang angle not greater than 20 degree.The discs of both gang face in
opposite direction thus throwing the soil in both directions.No soil
remains uncut by offset disc harrow.
• Double action or tandem harrow: It has four gangs,two front gangs throw
the soil outward and two rear gangs shift the soil inward as the soil being
manupulated, get pulverized

Disc harrow ….
 The gang angle varies from 15-25 degree ,adjustable.
 The number of disc in a gang varies from 4-10 depending upon small unit
and larger unit
 Discs are spaced about 15 cm-25 cm apart and their diameter ranges
between 40-60 cm
 Each disc is provided with a scraper to loosen the sticking soil on disc
curvature
 Notched disc are provided to cur or to crash the grass during plowing
• Animal drawn disc harrows are also available and useful for plowing.
• The single acting one gang type or double acting two gang type animal
drawn harrow has 3-4 disc per gang with covering 1 meter width
• Disc space is 15 cm and have the dia. Of 30,35 or 40 cm
• Gang angle can be change to vary the plow depth

Drag harrows: These are the older type harrows
and are used for dry and wet land preparation as
well as interculture operation to break the clods,
to stir the soil ,to uproot the weeds ,to level the
ground,to break the soil crust ,to mix the
fertilizers and manures with soil and to cover the
seed
Types of drag harrows are
• Spike tooth drag harrow and
• Spring tine drag harrow

Drag harrow….
• Spike tooth harrow:
-They are either rigid or flexible type
-Animal drawn or tractor drawn
-They have pointed steel pegs(teeth) about 23 cm long with their
pointed ends towards ground
- Width of harrow varies 1.2-1.8 meter with 25,30 or 35 teeth and
depth of penetration is 5 cm
-Each peg is rigidly clamped with the help of U-bolt to the cross bar
of frame
-It can use for seed bed preparation as well interculture
operation
-The teeth as well as penetration point are replaceable in case of
damage/wear and tear

• Spring tine harrow:
-Spring provision allow to adjust the depth of
penetration when ever needed
-They are more suitable and used in rough and stony
ground with obstruction like stones, roots and
weeds are hidden below soil surface
-Size of harrow varies as 2.5-10 meter depending upon
animal drawn or tractor drawn
-Spring and teeth point are replaceable whenever
needed
-Teeth points are detachable and can be detach for
repair and sharpening whenever needed

• Tillers/Cultivaters:These are designed for
tillage operation up to 4-5 cm depth or
manipulating the soil before and after the
seeding or as intercultural operation with
proper moisture content condition to control
weeds,to maintain loose soil/good tilth during
crop growth,to maintain rapid infiltration of
water as well to maintain soil aeration

• According to available sources of power cultivators are
available as
-Hand operated(width-20-25 cm) can cover 0.4-0.5 ha/day
-Animal drawn
-Tractor drawn
• According to type of manufacture or type of works as
intercultural operation,fertilizers miximg for row crops they
are:
-Shovel cultivators
-Rotary cultivators

Special Tillage Implements and Tools
 Chisel plow
 Sub-soiler
 Ridger and bund maker
 Puddler and leveler

Special tiaalge…

Special tillage…