Testing and Evaluation of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment

288 Pages·2012·14.9 MB·English

Testing and evaluation
of agricult1.;1ral
machinery and equipment
Principles and practices
2 Dynamometer
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D: Draft
P: Pull measured by a dynamometer
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MEASURING PULL AND CALCULATION OF DRAFT
Food
and
Agriculture
Organization
of
the
United
Nations

Testing and evaluati n
AGRICULTURAL
of ag ricu ltu ral
machinery and equipment
Principles and practices
by
D.W. Smith
B.G. Sims
D.H. O'Neill
'Food
and
Agriculture
Organization
of ·
the
United
Nations
Rome, 1994
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this
publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on
the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or
area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers
or boundaries.
M-05
ISBN 92-5-103458-3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani
cal, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the
reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome, Italy.
© FAO 1994
Formal testing of agricultural machinery was instigated during the industiial revolution at the tum of the
century, but it was only with the wide adoption of engine powered equipment that testing began to make a
serious and valuable contribution to manufacturers and users of agricultural machinery. Testing, in which the
engineering parameters of a machine are determined, has, without doubt, received the attention. The
evaluation of machines, in which their characteristics of handling and performance, their economic impact, as
well as their engineering parameters, are determined, came at a much later stage in devel?pment, despite the
greater potential benefits provided to the user and manufacturer by these activities. There is no universal
terminology which can be used to distinguish the activities of testing and evaluation.
Because of misconceptions associated with testing and evaluation of agricultural machinery, F AO decided that
its Panel of Experts on Agricultural Engineering should discuss the topic at its Eleventh Session in October
1992. One of the Panel recommendations was the preparation of two AGS Bulletins: one directed towards
testing and evaluation stations, universities and students in developing countries, and one directed towards
governments, policy makers, entrepreneurs and managers of testing and evaluation centres. This Bulletin is the
former of the two.
This Bulletin has been produced by the Overseas Division of the Silsoe Research Institute, U. K. working under
an F AO contract.
Adrianus G. Rijk
Chief
F AO Agricultural Engineering Service
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Manual is the fmit of an that was initiated in 1990 with the preparation and delivery of a
course on farm machinery evaluation for scientists of the Mexican National Forestry and Agriculture
Research Institute (JNIFAP). Since 1990 the material has been developed further during similar practical
workshops in Cuba, Honduras and Chile. Financial help from the UK Government's Overseas Development
Administration and the British Council enabled these workshops to talce place and is gratefuliy acknowledged.
A penultimate version of the Test Procedures in the second part of the Manual was prepared for the
Eleventh FAO Panel of Experts on Agricultural Engineering which met in Rome in October 1992. At that
1uc,c,u,,;,.,: it was recommended that the Procedures be edited and supplemented and that practical guidelines should
be included. This recommendation was adopted by F AO and resulted in the present document.
Many colleagues have reviewed drafts and have made valuable comments which have enhanced our
understanding of the prQject. Among these we would like to single out for special thanks:
Frank Inns; Ulrich Viebig; Derek Sutton; Jim Ellis-Jones; Steve Twomlow; Graeme Rainbird; Adrianus Rijk;
Terry Lester.
We owe a special debt to Sue Robinsonwho battled with manuscripts and typed many drafts of the final text.
We also recognise the cheerful and constructive efforts of Rosemary Briars; Maria Knaggs; Bob Wardell and
Roger Cover of Silsoe Research Institute Graphics Department who produced the illustrations.
Despite the contributions from all those who have collaborated the views contained in the Manual are those of
the authors; likewise we are responsible for all omissions and errors.
November 1993
Overseas Division
Silsoe Research Institute
iii
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2.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
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2.1.1 Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
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2.1.2 Mass ................................................. . 6
2.1.3 Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
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2.1.4 Revolutions 8
2.1.5 • .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .~ .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• .• ~ .Q .• .• .• ~ .• .• .• .• .• .• 9
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2.1.6 Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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2.2 Derived Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
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2.2.1, Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2.2 Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2.3 Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
2.2.4 Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.6 Torque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.7 Work and Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.8 Rate of Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.9 Rate of Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.10 Fuel Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.11 Rate of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.12 Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3 CALIBRATION OF TEST ................................ 25
4 APPLICATION OF MEASUREMENT TO TESTING PROCEDURES . . . 28
4.1 Selection of material for tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2 Soil conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2.1 Soil texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2. l. l Field estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2.2 Bulk Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2.2. Field estimation of bulk density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2.2.2 Sampling strategy for bulk density measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.2.3 bulk density and porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.3 Moisture Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.3.1 Measurement method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.3.2 Estimation by feel method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2.4 Mean Clod Diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2.5 Soil Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.2.5.l Cone Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.2.5.2 Shear Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
iv
4.3 Measurement of power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3.1 Rotary power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3.1.1 Engine ............................................. · · · · 37
4.3.1.2 Power take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.3.1.3 Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3.1.4 Electric Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3.2 Linear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3.2.1 Animal ................................................. 39
4.3.2.2 Tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.3.2.3 Machine ................................................ 42
4.3.3 Hydraulic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3.3.1 Oil ................................................... 42
4.3.3.2 Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.4 Performance of hand tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.4.1 Performance tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.4.2 Ergonomic assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.5 Animal perfomiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.6 Machine performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.6.1 Cultivators (primary and secondary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.6.1.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.6.1.2 Draft measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.6.1.3 Machine capacity and field efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.6.1.4 Soil Inversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.6.1.5 Surface evenness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.6.2 Seeders and planters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.6.2.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.6.2.2 Laboratory tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.6.2.3 Field tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.6.3 Fertiliser distributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.6.4 Knapsack Sprayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.6.5 Field Sprayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.6.6 Manual pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.6.7 Power operated pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.6.8 Grain Threshers and Shellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.6.9 Combine harvesters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.6.10 Animal carts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5 ERGONOMICS APPRAISAL OF AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT ............... 67
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.2 Human characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.2. l Body size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.2.2 Body strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.3 demands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.3.1 Static workload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.3.2 Dynamic workload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
V
5.4 Environmental factors
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ............ 76
5.4.1
Thermal stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.4.2
Air quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.4.3 n
~
Vibrati~~ · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 77
5.4.4
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~ * • • • • • • • • • • •
5.5 Safety and comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6 ECONOMICS
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ............... 80
6.1 Calculation of costs and benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.3 Net Present Values and Future Cash Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.4 Variability, risk and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Equilibrium partial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
SECTION B: TEST PROCEDURES ........................................ 95
7 POWER MEASUREMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
9 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTS FOR PRIMARY CULTIVATION 121
10 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTS FOR SECONDARY CULTIV ATIO:N l
11 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF HAND HOES ........................ 142
12 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF SEEDERS AND PLANTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
13 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF FERTILISER DISTRIBUTORS ............ 170
14 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF KNAPSACK SPRAYERS ................ 181
15 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF FIELD SPRAYERS .................... 192
16 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF PUMPS ......... 200
17 PROCEDURE FOR OF POWER OPERATED PUMPS ............ 207
18 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF GRAIN THRESHERS .................. 216
19 ................... 225
20 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF COMB1NE HARVESTERS ............... 235
21 PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF ANIMAL CARTS ..................... 255
22 REFERENCES · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · .............................. 264
ANNEX l INSTRUMENTATION AND ......................... 269
ANNEX 2 CONVERSION FACTORS TO SI UNITS .......................... 272