PSAE Region IV - Agricultural Engineering Board Review Materials I-1

Agricultural Machinery and Mechanization

Dr. Reynaldo I. Lantin

Professor
Agricultural Machinery Division
Institute of Agricultural Engineering
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
University of the Philippines Los Baños
College, Laguna

I. Definition of terms and concepts in the context of agricultural mechanization and machinery

1. Agricultural mechanization is a system of production of food and fiber that embraces

the use of tools, implement and machines for agricultural land development, production,
harvesting, and on-farm processing. It includes three main power sources: human,
animal and mechanical. Natural power (solar, water, and wind) are included in
mechanical power because a mechanical device is needed to transfer this power into
useful work. As a discipline, agricultural mechanization covers the manufacture,
distribution, and utilization of tools, implements, and machines. -- FAO definition

2. Agricultural mechanization is the application of animal and machine power to

multiply man’s ability to perform production operations. Mechanization permits man to
multiply his production by the use of animal or fuel power. Mechanization allows the
performance of tasks efficiently. - Loyd Johnson, 1964.

3. Levels of agricultural mechanization:

a. Hand tool technology – simplest and most basic level; use pf tools and simple
implements powered by human muscle. Even where sophisticated levels of
mechanization are commonly used, hand tool technology retains importance in
agricultural operations.
b. Draft animal technology – implements and machines utilizing animal muscle as
the power source.
c. Mechanical power technology – most sophisticated level; agricultural machinery

powered by mechanical or non-animate sources.

4. Conditions necessary for mechanization:

a. Mechanization must result in more production at lower cost than the traditional
method – to justify the equipment cost, divert displaced labor to more productive
operations
b. Mechanization must assist labor to overcome peak energy requirements which are in
excess of manpower available
c. Mechanization must replace time and energy efficiently – should be less than those
required with the use of hand tools.

5. Changes necessary for agricultural mechanization:

a. In farm size and layout – present paddy size is most efficient for animal and man
farming operations but not for mechanized operations; energy available has limited such
size; that’s why large landownership resulted in tenant system

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b. In farm practices and crops grown – mechanization overcomes peak energy

requirements to permit a second crop or next crop immediately following the previous
crop, hence increasing cropping intensity

c. In social systems – mechanization is based solely on cash exchange which is true in

any industry that makes use of power.

1. Bayanihan system is limited because time and favors are exchanged; exchange of
labor is now getting rare.

2. Cooperatives have been suggested and tried many times but with little or no
success because members must have self-discipline and equality.

3. Contractor-cash system – works in nearly all micro to macro service enterprises,

like milling and threshing, transportation, private schools, hospitals, construction.
Thus, custom service operation appears to be a viable strategy for promoting
mechanization because it is based on direct client-provider relationship where under
normal market forces, the client has power over the provider and can demand quality
and value or the next provider gets the contract. Here the poor farmer is in control
over the essential services provided.

4. Government-implemented mechanization systems have not been successful in the

Philippines and anywhere else in the world. The main reason is that services are not
direct but pass through policymakers and the bureaucracy and nobody is held
accountable. (Ref. Deverajan, S. and R. Reinikka. Making services work for poor
people. Finance and Development, September 2003. An IMF publication).

5. In paradigm – a shift from thinking marginal farming that has been bringing about
worsening poverty to smallholders’ families because of lack of resources (except the
small landholding) to large-scale farming by grouping and consolidating resources or
selling out to agribusiness investors and instead pursue the education of children so
that they will not become yet smaller landholders. In the meanwhile, the present
small landholders may continue their present work until retirement but can look
forward to a brighter future for his children during the next 5 – 10 years compared to
hopelessness at present. This vision may be attended by land for education swapping
with the investor who will guarantee funds for such education.

6. In paradigm – a shift from the thinking of adapting a small but inefficient machine
for small field plots to make the plots bigger to be able to utilize efficient large
machines through custom operation service providers.

7. In paradigm – a shift from inefficient and low-capacity small machines to efficient and
high-capacity large machines; this would need land forming, construction of field
roads roads, and irrigation and drainage facilities for efficient operations of the
service provider that will mean less cost to the farmer.

6. Agricultural machinery refers to the tools, implements, and equipment manufactured and
used for field operations to effect land preparation, including land clearing and land forming,
crop establishment, crop care and maintenance, and crop harvest and processing as well as
to those for the establishment, care and maintenance of poultry, livestock, and aquaculture.
Agricultural machines need energy sources or motive power equipment to operate them.

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7. Land consolidation is the grouping together of small parcels of land comprising a

contiguous area and reforming the boundaries for the purpose of effecting suitable field
shapes and sizes conducive to efficient operation of agricultural machinery, building access
roads, field irrigation and drainage canals as well as allotting spaces for crop postharvest
processing structures. The initial steps in planning for land consolidation consist of
topographic surveys and determining the layout of the required infrastructures (requiring an
agricultural engineer’s professional work). Certain mutually agreed arrangements (may
require the intervention of a third party, like an NGO or government, like DAR, DA, and
DECS) among the farmers involved are made in relocating boundaries, removal of existing
bounds and leveling along contours, which may entail land swapping, sales (may involve
outside areas to consolidate conjugal or family land properties into one area), donations, or
equitable sharing of labor and benefits, especially in rice paddies. Implementation of land
consolidation requirements may be facilitated by forming farmer cooperatives or groups,
reselling or leasing the land to an agribusiness or agro-industrial entrepreneur or corporation,
which would demand a large farm area to effect economies of scale. It can also be facilitated
by farm planning and implementing land consolidation physical infrastructures on a single or
family owned area before titling and distributing the land parcels to the farmer beneficiaries
of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Land consolidation is expected to be
a torturous endeavor that will need education and information among those directly affected
and is a step towards modernizing agriculture through gradual change from unproductive,
unprofitable or low-income generating marginal farming systems to efficient and profitable
large-scale and modernized farming. The current small landholder-farmers will retire and
their children will be encouraged and assisted to get college education so that none of them
will engage in marginal farming as an economic base. Certain safety nets may be in place to
ensure food and financial security in case of economic downturns and natural and man-made
calamities.

8. Farmland clustering is the grouping together of farms in an area (initially forming a

minimum of 50-ha cluster) for synchronized farming operations from land preparation to
harvesting in cooperation or contract with agricultural mechanized operations service
providers for the purpose of making field operations efficient and thus, effect low cost,
timely, and professional or high quality services to the benefit also of the farmers forming the
cluster. Within a farm or among neighboring farms, the farmers in the cluster agree to
remove or relocate boundaries or physical barriers (yet retaining the integrity of property
lines on paper or corner markers on land or both) to effect minimum interruptions of field
operations, like in continuous plowing, planting, and harvesting across property lines.
Farmland clustering has shown success, acceptance, and benefits among farmers in corn
farmland areas in Isabela and Quirino provinces through the efforts of cooperatives and
private custom operation service providers and encouragement by the DA and DAR.

9. Machinery for rice production in the Philippines

a. Power tiller or hand tractor or two-wheel tractor with moldboard plow and comb-
tooth harrow (suyod) as standard implements – riding type as in Nueva Ecija; pedestrian
type elsewhere

b. Rotary tiller or floating power tiller – hydrotiller in Laguna or turtle power tiller in
Iloilo and elsewhere in Visayas and Mindanao
Row marker or kaladkad – 30-row for making gridlines on paddy surface before
transplanting; common in Laguna
c. Centrifugal water pump with single cylinder engine – for shallow tubewell pumping
d. Axial-flow thresher – popular nationwide and in Asia with adaptive designs

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10. Status of mechanical powered field operations in the Philippines.

a. Land preparation – power tiller with plow, harrow; rotary tiller as in hydrotiller or turtle
power tiller for wetland rice; 4-wheel tractor with disk plow and harrow for sugar cane,
corn, and other upland crops
b. Seeding and transplanting rice and sugarcane – manual; seeding corn – tractor
operated pneumatic seeder in some places in Mindanao, Isabela, Cagayan, and Quirino
c. Harvesting rice and sugarcane – manual with sickle or palang, respectively; combine in
Pangasinan through a custom operation service provider; combine in corn in parts of
Isabela
d. Threshing palay – axial-flow thresher
.
11. Theoretical time per hectare is the time that would be required to finish a field operation
at the theoretical field capacity; it is the reciprocal of theoretical field capacity.

12. Performance efficiency is the percentage of effectiveness of performance of a machine as

for example the recovery of grain in a thresher or the degree of soil inversion of a plow as
expected in the design under the operating conditions.

13. Effective operating time is the time spent for actual performance of the machine; that is,
adding time spent to make up for time spent for strips of land not covered by the full width
of the machine; effective operating time will be longer than the theoretical time if such is the
case.

14. Field efficiency is the ratio of effective field capacity to theoretical field capacity, expressed
as percent. It is also the ratio of the theoretical time to the total time actually spent including
those for losses that are proportional to area and those that are not proportional to area.

15. Scouring of soil on a tillage tool is the ease of movement of the furrow slice to slide over
the moldboard, disk, chisel, cultivator, or furrower surface with minimal adhesion of the soil
to that surface on account of the soil moisture content falling within the friable phase and on
account of the low coefficient of soil-metal friction, coefficient of soil-soil friction, angle of
approach of the tool, soil cohesion and soil adhesion. Scouring will occur when the soil-tool
interface frictional resistance is less than the parallel soil-soil interface resistance.

16. Scraper in a tillage tool is a small blade, spatula, or curved plate that is designed to remove
any soil sticking on tool surface such as on the disk plow face or disk harrow blades. In the
animal-drawn plow it is in the form of a thin spatula which is conveniently tucked on the
extension of the plow standard for manually scraping the soil sticking on the moldboard
when needed.

17. Equivalent of landside in a tractor operated disk plow is the rear furrow wheel that bears
against the furrow wall to counteract the parasitic forces that produce a torque tending to
rotate the tail end of the plow towards the direction of the land and tending to steer the front
end of the tractor towards the plowed portion.

18. Offset disk harrow consists of a front gang of disks with disk angle and disk concave face
causing the soil to be moved to the right (left) for a right (left)-hand offset and the rear gang
causing the soil to be moved to the left (right) for a left-hand offset. The center of resistance
are offset to the left (right) of the center of gravity of the two gangs; the line of pull passes
through the center of resistance and the hitch point which may be aligned parallel (no side
draft) or at an angle to the left or to the right of the direction of travel in which cases there
are offsets.

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19. Checkrow planting is the planting of crops where the rows and hills within the rows
are aligned in perpendicular, diagonal, and other angular directions. Checkrow planting of
rice seedlings (dapog or seedbed-raised) is being practiced in Laguna by using 30-row
markers to draw grid lines on the drained paddy field before transplanting. Transplanting
workers are instructed to plant at the
intersections of the grid lines.

20. Precision planting is the placement of a single seed in a hill within the row at a uniform
depth and at a uniform environment for germination of each seed.

21. Aerobic seeding of rice is the planting of rice seeds on dry land or on saturated soil without
covering the seed with water or mud.

22. Dryland seeding of rice is similar to aerobic seeding except that it is carried out on land
that has not been puddled or is prepared mostly during the dry weather just like one for
upland crops. Upland rice in the Batangas highlands had been cultivated by broadcasting
seeds in furrows made by the lithao or five-tooth furrower pulled by an ox or carabao and
then covered with soil using a peg-tooth harrow. The practice has essentially been
discontinued because of abandonment of planting upland rice brought about by
industrialization, retirement of rice farmers, and lack of machinery technologies to substitute
the labor-intensive field operations, especially harvesting and threshing. Because of low
yields upland rice could not compete with wetland rice although the taste of upland rice is
much preferred by the local folks. Now that the mechanization technologies are available, no
programs are in place to revive the planting such sought after upland rice varieties.
Moreover, seeds have to be multiplied from about 10 grams of seed obtainable from only two
possible sources – the gene banks of IRRI and PhilRice and from some farmers who tried to
maintain the supply of such seeds for own use. (See item 38).

23. Infrastructure requirements of a consolidated rice field for efficient agricultural mechanization
consist of :
a. Reforming the bounds so that the fields are of suitable size and shape, appropriately
following contours for economy or land forming
b. Building access road to each field
c. Constructing irrigation facility for each field (ideally using pipe conveyance system)
d. Drainage system for each field joining the main consolidated farm drains for good water
control for water economy and prevention of floods.

In addition, a common and centrally located post harvest facility may be established possibly
by the cooperative to service one or more land consolidated areas.

24. The ultimate purpose of harvesting and threshing operation is to recover the usable grain
crop with the minimum degree of grain losses and damage and of highest quality of cleaning
to be free of plant residues, weed seeds, and materials other than grain.

25. Four basic operations performed by a combine in recovering the seed are:

a. Cutting, or picking up from the windrow, and conveying the material to the threshing
mechanism;
b. Threshing or detaching the grain from panicles;
c. Separating the seed and chaff from the straw; and
d. Cleaning the chaff and other debris from the seed.

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26. Present labor-intensive rice harvesting and mechanized threshing system consists of:

a. Manual cutting using the sickle and collecting the unbound sheaves to form a large stack;
b. Laying the materials on a tray at the front part of the axial-flow thresher for feeding into
the threshing mechanism with blower;
c. Collecting the mixture of grain and straw for further cleaning by manual screening and
blowing by a separate fan operated by a small engine; and
d. Bagging the cleaned grain – degree of cleaning depends upon the moisture content of
the mixture with the lowest degree occurring during the wet season harvest, thus,
contributing to low price.

27. Non-grain material includes all plant material entering the combine or fed into the
thresher except the grain or seed.

28. Grain/non-grain ratio is the ratio of the grain mass to the mass of non-grain material.

29. The non-grain feed rate is the rate at which non-grain material is delivered
to the cylinder by the header of the combine or by manual feeding in the case of the
thresher.

30. Grain feed rate is the rate, in kg grain per unit time, at which grain or seed is delivered to
the threshing cylinder by the combine header or by the manual feeder in the axial-flow
thresher. In the combine, it is the total of the grain collected in the grain tank and that lost
from the rear of the machine, that is, grain or seed passing out from the straw rack and the
chaffer sieve. In the portable axial flow thresher, it is the total of the clean grain collected or
the sum of that lost with the straw that is ejected from the thresher, that lost from the rear
of the thresher due to the built in blower and screen if any, and that lost during separate
cleaning by screening and blowing.

31. Total feed rate is the sum of the non-grain feed rate and the grain feed rate.

32. Gathering and pre-threshing losses in manual harvesting and mechanized threshing
includes grain lost during cutting the stalks by means of sickle, grain lost when gathering the
material to form into sheaves, grain lost during manual transport of the sheaves to the large
stack, and grain lost in retrieving material from the stack to convey it to the threshing tray.
In the combine, the gathering loss consists of grain or seed lost during cutting and conveying
operations to the threshing mechanism.

33. Cylinder loss in a combine consists of unthreshed grain coming out from the straw rack or
in the cleaning shoe.

34. Walker loss is threshed grain or seed that are included in the straw and discharged from
the rear of the machine.

35. Shoe loss is threshed seed or grain discharge over the rear of the cleaning shoe.

36. Tailings consist of unthreshed grains and the panicle materials to which they are attached.

37. Three types of threshing cylinders are peg-tooth or spike-tooth, wire loop, and
rasp-bar. Wire loop teeth are common in head feed cylinders such as those used in pedal
threshers and Japanese threshers and combines where the straw is saved from being
crushed between the concave and cylinder to make it usable for rope or other purposes.

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38. Three types of threshing action in throw-in feeding of threshing material according to the
direction of the material inside the threshing unit are:

a. Tangential or cross-flow where the material is fed on one side of the threshing
cylinder and discharged tangentially at the opposite side after passing between the
cylinder and concave grate; For shattering resistant rice varieties, separation can only be
about 60% and re-feeding will be necessary.
b. Axial flow where the material is fed at one end of the cylinder and by combined
threshing and conveying actions of the peg teeth, concave grate, and spiral deflector
attached to the cylinder cover, the material is conveyed spirally around the cylinder and
the crushed straw with minimal amount of free and unthreshed palay (if palay is not wet)
is discharged by a paddle wheel at the other end of the cylinder. This type of threshing
present problems of clogging and much grain loss with the straw when the palay is wet
as is often the case during the rainy season. Gleaners do their part in recovering the
grain; and
c. Radial flow where the material is usually hand held by four operators and the threshed
grain travels radially inside a rotating threshing conical table with wire loops. This
principle has not gained popular use.

39. Schematic of a typical modern combine; label all major components.

40. The optimum range of moisture content of palay for harvesting is 21 to 24%. This
range is attainable in the humid tropics like the Philippines. The lower figure is during the dry
season and the upper one, sometimes hardly attainable also is during the rainy season
harvest. At this moisture content range (the lower figure is desirable) grain quality
deterioration is lower than when it is at higher moisture content. IRRI found that the milling
(total and head yield) of IR8 variety was highest at 72-73% when palay is harvested within
this range. However, the grain has to be dried down to the 14% moisture content level.
Harvesting one week before maturity gave the least percentage loss. The
approximate number of days for the crop to mature for a given variety serves as guide for
harvesting. (See item 20).

41. Types of threshing teeth commonly used in each of the following threshers and why the
type is used:

a. Axial flow thresher has peg or spike teeth cylinder as the pegs do efficient separation
of the grains from the attachment by impact and rubbing action of the pegs or spikes as
the material pass between them and the concave grate
b. Self-propelled Japanese combine has wire-loop teeth because the palay is head-fed or
the rice stalks are held or clamped by a pair of spring-loaded sprocket chains with
triangular teeth while being conveyed axially along the cylinder. In this way, the straw is
not crushed for some other use or purpose such as rope for mat-making. Besides, the
popular Japanese rice variety, Koshihikari, is resistant to shattering and if the axial-flow
thresher principle is used tailings will be a problem. Incidentally, growing of upland rice
in the Batangas highlands has virtually been abandoned because of its difficulty to thresh
by feet, the traditional method. Before the threshing technology was introduced farmers
had already stopped planting the highly favored upland rice varieties
c. Rice stripper-gatherer has hard-rubber stripping teeth that have keyhole shape at
the base for efficient combing and stripping actions
d. Corn combine has rasp bar cylinder but has concave grate for effective corn shelling at
high rate

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42. Effect of speed on draft of a moldboard plow. The draft increases as the square of the
speed as shown in the formula

Ds = Do + KS2

Where:
Ds = draft at speed, S
Do = static component of draft, independent of speed
S = forward speed
K = a constant whose value is related to implement type and design and to soil
conditions

43. Types of moldboards

a. Sod type moldboards are long and low with gradual twist or spiral and often with
extension to effect maximum soil inversion to cover trash. They are suitable for friable
soils with sod or short-growing grasses but clay loam soils with high moisture content
near or within the plastic range (as in saturated paddy soils), the ribbon of soil may only
have short breaks. Coulters which may be notched or ripple edged are usually provided
to aid in cutting trash and to define cutting of the furrow slice

b. Stubble type moldboard is short and broad with abrupt curvature near the top, thus
effecting soil breakup

c. General-purpose type moldboard has curvature, height, and length between the
stubble and the sod types suitable for wide range of soil conditions. Some moldboards
are slatted to deal with sticky soils that present problems of scouring

44. The useful and parasitic forces acting on a moldboard plow:

a. R is the resultant of side and longitudinal forces
b. S is the side or lateral force perpendicular to the direction of travel and on the horizontal
plane
c. L is the longitudinal force along the direction of travel on the horizontal plane = draft
d. V is the vertical component of the resultant of forces acting on the moldboard and
causes a rotational effect because the moldboard bottom is not symmetrical about the
vertical, longitudinal plane through its centerline
e. Ph is the horizontal component of pull exerted by the power unit on the plow along the
line of pull
f. Qh is the component of the parasitic forces acting on the landside on the horizontal
plane.

45. The action of the moldboard on a furrow slice from the time it is cut by the share and left
behind by a moving plow. The plow share cuts a furrow slice and as the plow moves forward
the furrow slice is elevated as it slides on the moldboard surface. It encounters resistance to
motion due to partial blocking by the preceding furrow slice which is at higher elevation and
suffers twisting effect while following the contour of the moldboard surface. The furrow slice
breaks to a degree depending upon the plasticity or friability of the soil. Further movement to
the rear of the moldboard will result in twisting and breakage of the furrow slice until it drops
on the side of previous furrow ridge inverted, that is, the grass or stubble surface is now
underneath and the furrow slice bottom is now on top. Thus, the actions of the moldboard
on the soil consist of cutting, elevating, twisting, and inversion, resulting in breakage and
individual clods.

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46. Disk angle and tilt angle for a plow disk:

a. Disk angle is the angle between the horizontal diameter of the disk face and the
direction of travel and is normally 42o to 45o

b. Tilt angle is the angle that the disk is tilted backward from the vertical usually at an
angle from 15o to 25o

47. Difference between a standard disk plow and a vertical-disk plow.

a. The standard disk plow consists of a series of large-diameter disks (61 to 71 cm)
mounted individually and inclined on a frame supported by a rear furrow wheel if plow is
mounted type or wheels if semi-mounted or pulled type

b. The vertical disk plow, locally known as harrow plow, has smaller diameter (51 to 61
cm) disks and plows shallower than the standard disk plow. The disks are mounted with
uniform spacing along a common axle or gang bolt and clamped together with spacer
spools. The gang of disks rotates as a unit like a disk harrow gang. The tilt angle is zero
or the disk faces are vertically oriented. However, the disks have a common disk angle
which is the angle of the gang from the direction of travel.

48. Concavity of a disk is the reciprocal of the radius of curvature of the disk = 1/r, where r is
the radius of curvature of the disk. Thus, the less the concavity the larger is the radius of
curvature.

49. Gang arrangements for three types of disk harrow

a. Single-acting disk harrow has two opposed gangs of disk blades both throw the soil
outward from the center of the tilled strip;
b. Tandem disk harrow has two additional single-acting gangs of disk blades behind the
front gangs but throw the soil inward toward the center of the tilled strip thus, producing
a somewhat level field.
c. Offset disk harrow has two opposed gangs on in front which throws the soil outward
and one at the rear, which throws the soil inward. The line of pull is offset from the
center of gravity.

50. In seeding, the recommended proper placement of the seed and fertilizer in the soil:

a. Depth of placement – 2 - 3 cm from the soil surface

b. Soil compaction – soil on top of seed is loose; soil around seed is pressed; and soil at
bottom of seed slightly compacted
c. Fertilizer placement – 5 cm to the side and 5 cm deep

51. Four types of soil surface profile for row-crop planting:

a. Furrow planting – seed or plant placed at bottom of furrow

b. Flat planting – seed or plant placed on flat or level surface
c. Bed planting – one row is planted on the ridge of the furrow
d. Broad bed planting - two or more rows are planted on the broad bed top.

52. Four types of furrow openers:

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a. Single disk – for depth of penetration and cutting trash as in grain drills
b. Double disk – for medium and shallow seeding where depth control is critical and made
possible with removable depth bands
c. Full or curved runner – for medium depths in trash-free soil
d. Stub runner – for rough and trashy ground
e. Hoe – for stony and root infested soils

53. The seed metering device used in each of the following planting machines:

a. Tractor-mounted corn planter (Ford) – a rotating edge-drop horizontal plate with

spring-loaded cut-off device that rides on top of the plate and wipes off excess seeds as
the cells move beneath it; a spring-loaded knock out pawl pushes the seeds from the
cells when they are over the seed tube. The plate is driven by the ground wheel by a set
of speed ratios through sprockets and chain and bevel gear drives to establish the
planting distance between hills along the row.
b. Tractor-drawn grain drill (IH McCormick) – Fluted wheel
c. Manually pulled rice drum seeder (IRRI-designed) – Fixed row of orifices
d. Vegetable seeder (Planet Jr.) – Fixed orifice or stationary-opening with agitator
driven by ground wheel

54. Two types of hitch linkages of 4-wheel tractors:

a. Parallel-link hitches – employed mostly for front-mounted cultivators where raising

and lowering of the gang or tool bar result in equal changes in the depths of all shovels
and does not change the pitch of the shovels
b. Three-point hitch converging link type – rear-mounted with 4 categories with
dimensions corresponding to the different ranges of maximum drawbar power.

55. ASAE-SAE standards for 3-point hitches specify all dimensions related to the 3 connecting
points between the implement and tractor but not link lengths and the amounts of horizontal
and vertical convergence:
a. Maximum limits for lift height, lateral leveling adjustments and side sway
b. Minimum lift force to be available at the hitch pins
c. Dimensions for 4 hitch categories as follows
Category I – 15 to 35 kW (20 to 45 hp)
Category II – 30 to 75 kW (40 to 100 hp)
Category III – 60 to 168 kW (80 to 225 hp)
Category IV – 135 to 300 kW (180 to 400 hp)

56. Automatic draft control – a type of restrained link system in which the depth is
automatically adjusted to maintain a pre-selected, constant draft.

57. Vertical effect of the implement pull upon the tractor is to add the vertical component of pull
to the rear wheels and to transfer from the front wheels to the rear wheels a vertical force
equal to the horizontal component of pull times the ratio y/x, where y is the height of above
ground at which the line of pull on the vertical longitudinal plane intersects the vertical line of
action of the vertical supporting soil reaction upon the rear wheel (reaction is slightly in front
of the rear axle) and x is the horizontal distance between the vertical lines of action of the
supporting soil reactions upon the front and rear wheels.

58. Financial management of machinery entails the determination of costs of owning and
performing field operations using a particular machine or group of machines. Costs include
charges for the implement, tractor or engine power utilized, and labor and are categorized

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into fixed and variable costs. Simple benefit and cost analysis can determine the viability of
owning a certain machine or group of machines for own use or for custom hire services or
both. Apart from the benefit-cost ratio, some common measures of profitability of the
machine system or enterprise are payback period, internal rate of return, return on
investment. Financial analysis is necessary for making decisions on whether to buy a certain
machine and power unit or hire the services of custom operation service provider, or choose
an alternative project.

59. Depreciation is a fixed cost if the machine life is determined by obsolescence or if the
machine is assumed to have a life span or fully depreciated before it wears out. However, if
depreciation is based on operating time before it wears out, then depreciation is a considered
a variable cost.

60. Items to consider in cost analysis:

a. Machine life is estimated arbitrarily by estimate of years to obsolescence or years to

wear out or
becomes uneconomically repairable. The lesser value is to be used
b. Interest on investment should reflect the prevailing interest rates. The interest cost
reflects the opportunities foregone for other financial investment with that money
because it has been tied up in the purchase of the machine
c. Taxes, insurance, and shelter are important considerations but normally when a
machine has been purchased the cost include taxes already. In only some cases where
necessary, like in the case of expensive tractors and combines working in security
sensitive will the machine be insured against damage or sabotage. However, cost of
housing the machine such as shed for protection from the elements and security as well,
is to be included
d. Repairs and maintenance are at best estimated unless there is a historical record of
similar machines from the same manufacturer from which data on repairs can be taken.
Otherwise, repair cost is estimated as 15% of the initial cost
e. Fuels, lubricants, and miscellaneous supplies can be substantial operational cost.
Fuels and lubricant costs are very volatile and fluctuate according to the cost of crude oil
in the world market and the exchange rate of the peso. Historical records of fuel
consumption, repair, and maintenance costs for similar brand engines and applications
can be helpful in making estimates.

61. Total cost of performing a field operation.

The calculation of total cost per unit of work, that is, on a per-unit-area or production-unit-
basis, such as pesos per ha, pesos per kg palay threshed, pesos per hour hydrotilling,
involves the following factors:
a. Annual use of implement, in hours or hectares
b. Effective field capacity of implement, in hectares per hour
c. Total annual fixed costs for implement;
d. Total operating costs per hour (repairs, fuel, and lubricants) for implement
e. Cost per hour or per hectare for tractor power required by non-self propelled implements
f. Labor cost per hour

62. Five measures of profitability of ownership and operation of a custom machinery service
operation:

63. Laser leveling is a modern method of leveling land using the straightness and non-
spreading properties of laser beam to indicate the elevation of an object relative to a

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benchmark. A sensor detects the position of the light beam and relays the signal to an
actuator (usually the controls of the tractor hydraulic system) to raise or lower or hold the
leveling device at the set elevation. With this principle, leveling of paddy field can be done
accurately and with less or no water use as in dry soil leveling. The imported components
consisting of laser generator, sensor, actuator, controls and electronic instruments required
are expensive but a similar local automatic or semi-automatic version adapting locally
available electronic components may be designed and made to achieve low cost.

64. First and second laws of machines:

a. Any operation performed by human hands can be performed by a machine or a series of
machines.
b. Any operation performed by a machine or a series of machines can be done faster and/or
cheaper and/or with improvement in quality of product by another machine or a series of
machines.

65. Time losses incurred in operation of machines:

a. Time losses in turning at headlands

b. Time losses due to interruptions that are proportional to effective operating
time or total field time, e.g., idle travel across the ends
c. Time losses due to interruptions that are proportional to area, e.g.,
interruptions due to clogging, obstructions, adding fertilizer or seed to hoppers
d. Time losses due to interruptions that are not proportional to area, e.g., back-
and-forth turning in row crop operation

66. Formula for field efficiency:

Ef = 100 To/ (Te + Th + Ta)

Where:
To = theoretical time per hectare
Te = effective operating time = To x 100/K
K = percentage of implement width actually utilized
Th = time lost per hectare due to interruptions that are not proportional to area,
Ta = due to interruptions that are proportional to area

67. Expression of size of implements

a. Animal-drawn moldboard plow – width of cut of moldboard measured as the widest

potion of the share in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the plow,
e.g., 12 cm
b. Tractor-mounted moldboard plow – number of bottoms x width of cut of one bottom
measured as the distance between the gunnel (edge part of the moldboard near the
landside) and the wing of the share along a line perpendicular to the direction of travel of
the plow, e.g., 3 x 61 cm
c. Row-crop planter – number of rows x distance between rows, e.g., 4 x 75 cm
d. Self-propelled combine – width of cut or swath, e.g., 5 m
e. Hydrotiller – width of cut or swath, e.g., 1.2 m

68. Eight objectives of tillage:

a. To develop a soil structure and environment conducive to the germination of the seed
b. To control weeds or thin the unwanted plants

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c. To manage plant residues, that is, incorporate vegetative materials into the soil for
composting and destroying hosts of insect pests
d. To minimize soil erosion, through contour tillage, listing, and trash placement –
conservation tillage
e. To form the land surface for planting, irrigation, drainage, and harvesting operations
f. To incorporate fertilizers and soil amendments
g. To segregate soil sizes, remove rocks and other foreign objects
h. To harvest root crops.

69. Four major objectives of minimum tillage:

a. To reduce mechanical-energy and labor requirements
b. To conserve moisture and reduce soil erosion
c. To minimize the area tilled such as the strip along the row
d. To reduce tillage time by minimizing trips across the field.

70. Purposes of stubble-mulch tillage:

a. To reduce wind and water erosion
b. To conserve water by reducing runoff

71. Forces acting upon a plow bottom:

a. Useful forces – result from cutting, pulverizing, lifting, and inverting furrow slice
b. Parasitic forces – act upon the side and bottom of landside (including friction) and
rolling resistance of support wheels.

72. Two ways of expressing the forces acting upon a tillage tool when a rotational effect exists –
illustrate for a moldboard plow bottom:
a. Two non-intersecting forces, Rh and V
b. One force R, plus a couple Va in a plane perpendicular to the line of motion

73. Four types of implements based on how they are connected to the power unit:
a. Pull-type or trailed implement is one that is connected at a single hitch point and
pulled by the power unit without any other support from it
b. Mounted implement is attached to the tractor through a hitch linkage, normally by the
standard 3-point hitch and is completely supported by the tractor when in raised position.
The hitch linkage provides rotational stability in the longitudinal axis and is operated by
the hydraulic system to control the height of implement and depth of cut through the
vertical support from the tractor while in operating position
c. Semi-mounted implement is attached to the tractor through a horizontal or nearly
horizontal hinge axis and is only partially and never completely supported by the tractor
d. Self-propelled machine has its own built-in propelling power unit

II. Exercise questions

Enumerate, explain, and illustrate each of the following:

1. Give the formula for shearing stress at soil failure when acted upon by a tillage tool.
Explain each term or symbol in the formula.
2. Explain how speed increases draft of a moldboard plow. Give the equation that relates
speed to draft and explain each term in the equation.
3. Illustrate the gang arrangements for the three general types of disk harrows.
4. Differentiate between primary and secondary tillage.
5. Explain the function of the landside in a moldboard plow.

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6. Differentiate between parasitic and useful forces when operating a tillage tool.
7. Name and explain 5 ways by which a farmer, operating a carabao-drawn moldboard
plow, adjusts the depth of cut of the plow?
8. Enumerate and explain the types of field implements according to the manner by which
they are mobilized by the motive power unit.
9. In the financial management of agricultural machinery, enumerate and categorize the
data needed for outline the procedure for analysis of viability of a mechanization project.
10. Define and give the formula (explain each term in the formulas) for each of the following
terms related to the field performance of machines:
11. The width of cut of one bottom of a moldboard plow. Illustrate the dimension in the
top view of one plow bottom.
12. The function of a rolling coulter attached to a moldboard plow bottom.
13. Useful and parasitic forces acting on a moldboard plow.
14. The effect of angled pull to the left of the direction of travel on the parasitic force acting on
a moldboard plow.
15. The equation for effect of speed on draft of a moldboard plow.
16. Five functions of a seed planter.
17. Four patterns of seed distribution.
18. How can the rate of seeding in a corn planter be changed?
19. The ideal placement of seed and fertilizer in the soil for optimum germination and
emergence. Illustrate the mild compaction done on the soil and explain the advantage or
purpose of such intervention.
20. The type of furrow opener installed in the corn planter studied in the laboratory. Illustrate
and give the advantage over that in (21) below.
21. Same as (20) but for the pull-type vegetable seed planter. Advantage over that in (21)?
22. Same as (20) but for the grain drill used in the laboratory; advantage over that in (21)?
23. The equation for shear failure in soils; explain each term.
24. Why is it not advisable to use a disk harrow after plowing a cogonal field? What implement
should be used instead of the disk harrow?
25. What is the effect of increasing the tilt angle of a plow disk on draft and penetration into
the soil of the disk?
26. A 4-wheel drive tractor rated as 80 DIN pulls a 5-bottom disk plow while operating in a
grassy field with medium clay loam of moisture content in the friable range and thus, the
land is fit for plowing as the soil scours easily over the implemnt surface. The tractor
operator appears to wrestle with the power steering wheel because the tendency of the
tractor front wheel is to veer to the right. A well-adjusted two-way 3 x 41-cm moldboard
plow mounted on a 4-wheel drive tractor of about the same horsepower rating as the
tractor above, operates in the adjacent field at 6 km/h and appears not to encounter any
problem. Identify the possible causes of the problem encountered in the operation of the
tractor pulling the disk plow.
27. The three profiles of field surface on which row crop planting may be done.
28. Three types of seed furrow openers.
29. Three factors affecting seed germination and emergence.
30. Three types of bulk-flow seed metering devices.
31. Three types of single or multiple seed metering devices.
32. Primary tillage operation and 2 example implements used.
33. Secondary tillage operation and 2 example implements used.
34. Three good engineering features of the native moldboard plow, that are also present in the
most modern tractor-drawn moldboard plow.
35. Two laws of machines.
36. Four functions of a seed planter.
37. Four methods by which seeds may be distributed in the field.
38. Importance of a well-leveled lowland rice field.

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39. Illustration with labels of major components of standard three-point hitch system in a 4-
wheeled tractor.
40. Give at least two possible causes of each of the following conditions in a combine operation:
a. Excessive header loss;
b. Excessive amount of unthreshed seed;
c. Excessive free seed over straw walkers;
d. Cracked grain;
e. Excessive free-seed loss over rear of shoe
f. Excessive amount of chaff in tailings;
g. Excessive amount of free seed in tailings;
h. Clogging of the cylinder and concave;
i. Stalks of palay left uncut in the field or missed by the cutter bar; and
j. Bogging down of the combine in deep mud.
41. Classify whether primary or secondary tillage each of the field operations below and give
reason why so:
a. Plowing in the longitudinal direction with an animal-drawn moldboard plow, a
rice stubble wetland rice field after it has been harvested
b. Cross-plowing with an animal-drawn moldboard plow, the rice stubble wetland rice field
above after one week
c. Rotary tilling in the longitudinal direction with a Hydrotiller, a rice stubble wetland rice
field after it has been harvested
d. Cross rotary tilling with a Turtle Power Tiller, the rice stubble wetland rice field above one
week after passing with the Hydrotiller
e. Disc harrowing a field that has been left fallow for one season
42. Give the primary objective of proper hitching for pull-type implements having adjustable pull
members.
43. What are the three types of vertical hitching situations for pull type implements and give
three examples each of implements demonstrating the vertical hitching situation.
44. To what type of vertical hitching situation does an animal-drawn moldboard plow belong?
Explain and support your answer by diagram.
45. What is the effect on the line of pull when hitching at a too low point on an animal-drawn
moldboard plow hitch?

III. Exercise problems

1. The specific draft of a 3 x 41-cm pull-type moldboard plow when plowing at 4.83 km/h is 5
N/cm2.
a. What is the total draft in kN if the depth of plowing is 15 cm has a speed of 6 km/h?
b. The hitch point is changed from a straight pull, that is, center of resistance and hitch
point are aligned along the direction of travel, to an angled pull, that is, the pull is
directed at 12o to the left of the direction of travel. Calculate the magnitude of draft at
4.83 km/h and 6 km/h.
2. A right-hand moldboard plow bottom is pulled at an angle of 12 o to the left of the direction of
travel. If Rh is at an angle of 10o from the direction of travel and the coefficient of friction on
the landside is 0.30, determine the percentage increase in draft of the plow.
3. How would the most economical speed of plowing (minimum cost per hectare) be changed
by increased labor costs? By increased energy costs? By decreased hectares per year given a
fixed cost of plowing, that is, independent of speed? Explain each, that is, give an analysis of
the effect by giving the equation for the total cost and showing the effect of speed in each
case.
4. A right-hand offset disk harrow is operating with disk angles of 15 o and 21o, respectively, for
the front and rear gangs. The centers of the two gangs are 2.45 m and 4.25 m behind a

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transverse line through the hitch point on the tractor drawbar. The horizontal soil-force
components are: Lf = 3.1 kN, Sf = 2.65 kN, Lr = 3.35 kN, Sr = 3.8 kN. Calculate:
a. The horizontal angle of pull from the line of travel;
b. The draft, Px;
c. The horizontal pull, Ph; and
d. The amount of offset of the center of cut with respect to the hitch point.
5. The line of pull on an implement is 15 o and is in a vertical plane which is at an angle of 10 o
with the direction of travel.
a. Calculate the draft and side-draft forces for a pull of 11 kN.
b. What drawbar power would be required at 5.5 km/h?
6. A field chopper (forage harvester) discharges the cut forage into a trailed wagon at the rate
of 27 Mg/h. The field efficiency is 70% when there is no waiting for wagons, that is, an
empty wagon is always ready to replace the filled wagon. The average load per wagon is 4.5
Mg and it takes 2.0 minutes to change wagons. The operator must occasionally wait for an
empty wagon and the average delay is 3.0 minutes per load. Calculate the following:
a. Field efficiency, and
b. Reduction in average output in Mg/h.
7. The results of the calibration test for a rice variety of the McCormick 9 x 7” grain drill with
1220 mm diameter ground wheel, which was rotated 10 times, are as follows:

Seeding rate
adjustment
(exposed portion 1/4 1/2 3/4 Full
of the fluted shaft)
Average
discharge/spout, g 140 460 740 1100

Determine the seeding rate adjustment to use if we want to plant at the rate of 100 kg/ha.

8. a. What seed spacing is required when planting maize in rows 102 cm apart if the desired
plant population is 60,000 plants per hectare and an average emergence of 85% is
expected?
b. If the edge-drop seed plate has 16 cells and a diameter of 200 mm, what is the linear cell
speed in meters per minute when planting at 8 km/h?
9. The draft of a single-acting disk pull-type harrow is 10 kN. The disk angle is 20 o for each
gang that has 12 600-mm blades spaced 250 mm apart.
a. Draw the diagram showing the horizontal force relations.
b. Determine the magnitude of the longitudinal forces for each gang.
c. Determine the magnitude of the side horizontal forces for each gang if L/S is 1.3.
d. What is the tilt angle of each disk?
10. The following is a design concept for a multi-row manually pulled planter for precision
seeding of hybrid rice in 20-cm checkrows:
Seed hopper: Two bowls with mouth diameter of 100 mm are conjoined at their mouths and
mounted on a horizontal shaft such that the bottoms of the bowls are orientated on the
vertical plane. The gang of hoppers, arranged zees kebab-style (like a disk harrow)
rotates co-axially with the ground wheel. Each hopper corresponds to one row. Each
hopper contains air-dried pre-germinated hybrid rice seeds that tumble inside during
forward travel of the seeder. .
Seed metering device: Six seed tubes are spaced equally around the periphery of the hopper
where the bowls have been conjoined. Each seed tube rotates integrally with the hopper
with the horizontal shaft as the common center of rotation. One end of each tube is

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inside the hopper and has an end cup, which is designed to pick up a single palay
seed. The other end of the tube protrudes 50 mm out of the hopper periphery and
serves as the discharge end of the seed. As each seed tube rotates from the horizontal
position to about 450 upwards, the seed inside the tube slides down and discharges at
the protruding end.
Power source: One man who operates the seeder at an average speed of 2 km/h and at a
field efficiency of 60%.
As the agricultural engineer for the project, you are to provide the design parameters for the
precision seeder by providing answers to the following questions:
a. Calculate the effective rolling diameter of ground wheel for the 20-cm checkrow planting.
b. Calculate the field capacity for a 15-row seeder.
c. Calculate the minimum clearance of the tip of the seed tube from the ground surface.
d. Calculate the peripheral speed of the tip of the seed discharge tube while the seeder is in
operation at constant speed of forward travel. Of the seeder.
e. Calculate the horizontal distance of the drop point of the seed on the ground, which had
been puddled and leveled with a laser leveler. Use the vertical line from the discharge
end of the seed tube to the ground as reference line.
11. A 1.2 m wide hydrotiller is used for rotary tilling/puddling a 25m x 40 m wetland paddy field
with stubbles and grass from the last crop. The average speed of travel is 4 km/h. Turning at
headlands takes 10 seconds.
a. Is the operation a primary or secondary tillage?
b. What is the field efficiency if the field is worked along its length?
c. What is the field efficiency if the field is worked along its width?
d. What is the theoretical field capacity?
12. The specific draft of a 3 - 41-cm pull-type moldboard plow when plowing at 4.83 km/h is
5 N/cm2.
a. Calculate the total draft in kN if the depth of plowing is 15 cm and the speed is 6 km/h.
b. Calculate the drawbar power in kW.
c. The hitch point is changed from a straight pull, that is, center of resistance and hitch
point are aligned along the direction of travel, to an angled pull, that is, the pull is
directed at 12o to the left of the direction of travel. Calculate the magnitude of pull at 6
km/h.
d. Assume that the resultant of the useful forces on the horizontal plane is 10 o from the
direction of travel and that the coefficient of friction on the landside is 0.30. Calculate the
horizontal component of soil resistance to the moldboard.
e. Calculate the horizontal component of the parasitic force on the landside and illustrate
where it acts on a moldboard bottom.
13. A 1.2 m PhilRice-Agad reaper operates at an average speed of 4 km/h. with two operators
working alternately every two hours. The average width of cut is 20 cm less than the rated
width. The average time for turning, adjusting, clearing of clogged cutting blades,
transferring to other fields to be harvested, and other miscellaneous interruptions amounted
to 15% of the effective operating time. Every 2 hours of operation, the fuel tank has to be
refilled and downtime, including changing of operators takes an average of 5
minutes/ha.
a. Calculate the field efficiency.
b. Calculate the effective field capacity.
c. What would be the field efficiency if the fuel tank is refilled on-the-go, with no time lost
during the refilling process?
14. A 1.0-m hydrotiller is used to rotary till and puddle a 100 m-square field for wetland rice at a
speed of 4 km/h.
a. Calculate the theoretical capacity of the machine.
b. If the actual operation consumed 5 h, what is the field efficiency?

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c. If the time spent in turning at the headlands is 15 seconds/turn, what is the total time
actually utilized for actual rotary tilling the 1-ha field, assuming no other losses of time?
d. If the 1-ha field is divided into 4 equal squares by means of bunds or pilapil, what is the
field efficiency of rotary tilling at the specified forward speed?
15. Why is design of tillage equipment still largely considered as an art in spite of numerous
science and technology researches and results that support that design? Is composting a
tillage objective?
16. One of the most noxious weeds in upland farming is the cogon or Imperata cylindrical, which
has rhizomes or roots with nodes that sprout new plants. Some agricultural engineers
recommend that the disc harrow should not be used after plowing. What is their reason?
17. Explain why some sectors recommend doing only basic tillage (e.g., till only where the seed
germinates and not the spaces in-between plants; plant seeds directly through corn
stubbles).
18. What are the stages of workability does a cohesive soil undergo as it is wetted from dry to to
saturation ? What stage of moisture content is optimum for dry land tillage? Why?
19. Give at least 2 advantages gained by the Asian rice farmer when using the present system of
working wetland rice clay soils at saturation stage instead of working it dry. What are the
problems met compared to dry land tillage?
20. The draft of a carabao-drawn moldboard plow is 730 N while working on a wetland rice soil.
The height of the hitch point above the ground surface is 300 mm and the height of
drawrope attachment on the yoke at the carabao’s nape is 1200 mm above the ground. The
horizontal distance between the hitch point and the yoke is 2.1 m. The carabao travels on
the land at 2.5 km/h and pulls the plow at an angle of about 100 .
a. What is the direction of pull relative to the line parallel to the direction of travel? Show
by sketch.
b. How much pull is exerted by the carabao?
c. Determine the specific draft of the tool working on the soil if the plowing is 120 mm deep
and 120 mm wide.
d. Make a freehand sketch (FHS) of the top view of the plow bottom and indicate the forces
acting on it. Indicate whether such forces are useful or parasitic.
21. Plowing operation. Answer each of the following questions:
a. What are the two adjustments on the 3-point hitched disc plow that you used in the field
work.
b. Describe how such adjustments are carried out.
c. Explain what each adjustment does on the behavior of the plow bottoms.
d. Define back furrow and how it comes about in plowing.
22. A pull-type 5 x 36-cm moldboard plow is hitched to the drawbar of a tractor with adjustable
wheel tread such that the four wheels run of the unplowed land. Draw a diagram of the
hitching position such that a straight central pull is obtained. If the wheel tread adjustment is
limited, what remedy or compromise can be made so that the steering of the tractor will not
be much affected. Show by force analysis, the effect of the implement pull on the transfer of
vertical forces to the rear wheels of the tractor. What safety precaution should be taken as a
result of such force transfer?
23. The free-body diagram, with appropriate labels of forces and dimensions, showing the
resultant soil forces upon a vertical disk blade, the total effect being represented by two non-
intersecting forces.
24. Diagram of horizontal force relations for a pull-type, right-hand offset disk arrow without
wheels when there is an extreme right offset. Label all forces and dimensions.
25. Draw a freehand sketch to show the horizontal force relations for a tandem disk harrow
(similar to the correct answer in item 7 above). Assume that for each gang the disk angle is
20o and L/S = 1.2.
26. The formulas for the amount of offset from the hitch point to the center of cut:
a. When there is side draft;

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b. When there is no side draft.

27. The following is the result of a detailed time study for a steady state threshing operation in a
rice field using a portable 1 ton/hour capacity axial-flow thresher with screen and blower and
working beside a stack of cut palay material and with 6 persons involved. What is the
efficiency of the complete threshing operation, that is, from picking up sheaf to bagging of
palay?
Activity Minutes Spent
per ton Palay
Pick up by two persons sheaf from stack and lay on 60
threshing tray panicle towards the cylinder ensuring
tray is always full
Continuous feeding by one person of threshing material 60
into the intake chute of the thresher
Down time to clear clogging in cylinder (stop engine;
open cover and clear cylinder; close cover; restart engine) 30

Activity Minutes Spent

per ton Palay

Collect by one person partially cleaned grain into 60

a pile beside thresher; scoop from pile and pour
into plastic screen hanging from a tripod; shake
screen by two persons letting air blast from engine
-operated fan blow away the chaff and straw;

Collect the partially cleaned mixture of grain and chaff 30

at the edge of the cleaned pile for recycling in screen.

Bag the cleaned grain by two persons and set aside 20

Total 260

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