Studies of Plough Design and Ploughing Relevant to Conditions in Northern Europe

Abstract

Studies of plough design and ploughing relevant to conditions in Northern Europe.Although the development of plough design has been on the agenda for hundreds of years, there is still room for improvements. The present study attempts to give an overview of previous work and to identify the areas having most potential for future improvement. The study is based on 165 publications from 1771 to 2001 and covers the main parameters in relation to energy requirement, wear, ploughing result and crop yield. The study concludes that the features of greatest future potential are changes of the ploughing depth and of the shape and surface characteristics of shares and other lower plough body parts. The effects of ploughing depth have been studied in numerous investigations. The results show that the depth should be chosen with regard to soil type and weed infestation. It may often be reduced to 18 -20 cm or less without signi cant reduction of crop yields, but with a considerable reduction of energy demand. The share tips and other lower plough body parts contribute about two thirds of the total draft requirement of the plough bodies, and they may contribute to some extent to plough pan formation. Therefore, the shapes of these parts considerably in uence energy requirement, wear and maintenance costs and the resistance to root penetration and water in ltration below the plough layer. Reduction of the draft force requirement by reducing the ploughing depth and improving the shape opens up possibilities for decreases in tractor power and weight, or an increase in work rate through greater working speed or width.

The Heavy Plough and the Agricultural Revolution in Medieval Europe

“…Some evidence on the relative advantage of the heavy plough on clay soils exists in the form of modern mouldboard ploughing tests. These tests reveal that mouldboard ploughing increases crop yields on clay soils with considerably higher clay content in the subsoil than the topsoil (Guul-Simonsen et al 2002). We will use this fact in the construction of our measures below.…”

“…The mouldboard is the part of the heavy plough from which its principal advantages on clay soils derive. The first advantage is that it turns the soil, which allows for both better weed control on clay soil in damp climates and incorporation into the soil of crop residues, green manure, animal manure, or other substances (Richerson 2001;Guul-Simonsen et al 2002). The second advantage is that mouldboard ploughing produces high-backed ridges, which contributes to more efficient drainage of clay soils.…”

Sustainable Soil Management

“…Recent optimisation strategies for mouldboard ploughing are based on the automation and use of suitable ploughing depth as well as appropriate plough shape and surfaces in order to reduce friction and resistance forces ( Figure 6). Although scientific studies showed a variation in crop yield responses to plough depths, it was specified that crop yields will be either similar or higher, especially for silty soils if plough depth is reduced to 15-20 cm comparing when the operational depths were set at 22-28 cm (Guul-Simonsen et al, 2002;Inge Håkansson et al, 1998), while energy use efficiency will be improved considerably. Though, weed propagation should be controlled additionally, especially for sandy soils using occasional deep (i.e.…”

“…Sensor-based primary tillage operation, which allows implementing and collecting data at various spatial and temporal scales. combination of shallow and deep ploughing also diminishes tillage pan compaction issues (Guul-Simonsen et al, 2002;Natsis, Papadakis, & Pitsilis, 1999). Precisely, the site-specific depth-controlled mouldboard plough significantly reduce energy and fuel consumption by 56% and 34% to 45% compared to conventional tillage (Keskin et al, 2011;Raper et al, 2005).…”

Simulation of Sowing Precision in Laboratory Conditions

“…The sowing work can be done with or without the previous processing of the seedbed, and the placement of the seeds is done at a constant depth, at the base of a loose soil layer and above a more compact soil layer [37].…”