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Tillage Tools & Implements

Mostafijur Rahman
Sher-e- Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka
Tillage

Tillage is the physical manipulation of the soil with tools and implements to result
in good tilth for better germination and subsequent growth of crops.

The main purposes of the tillage are,

 Soil pulverization which facilitates better root penetration and seedling
emergence.
 Cutting, incorporation and mixing of crop residues and vegetation into the
soil to add humus and organic matter to the soil.
 Improvement in moisture retention capacity by breaking the hard pan and
crust formed on top layer of the soil.
 Improvement in soil porosity and aeration.
 Reduction in weed growth.

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Classification of Tillage

Primary tillage
It constitutes the initial major soil working operation. It is normally designed to
reduce soil strength, cover plant materials and rearrange aggregates. The
operations performed to open up any cultivable land with a view to prepare a seed
bed for growing crops is known as primary tillage. Animal drawn implements
mostly include indigenous plough and mould-board plough. Tractor drawn
implements include mould-board plough, disc plough, subsoil plough, chisel plough
and other similar implements.
Secondary tillage
Tillage operations following primary tillage those are performed to create proper
soil tilth for seeding and planting are secondary tillage. These are lighter and finer
operations, performed on the soil after primary tillage operations. Secondary
tillage consists of conditioning the soil to meet the different tillage objectives of the
farm. The implements include different types of harrow, cultivators, levellers, clod
crushers etc.

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Difference between tools/Implements/Machines

•Tool - It is an individual working element such as disc or shovel.

•Implement - It is an equipment generally having no driven moving parts,
such as harrow or having only simple mechanism such as plough.
•Machine -It is a combination of rigid or resistant bodies having definite
motions and capable of performing useful work.

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Implements for Primary

Tillage
Plough - Ploughing is the primary tillage operations,
which are performed to cut, break and invert the soil
partially or completely. Ploughing essentially means
opening the upper crust of the soil, breaking the
clods and making the soil suitable for sowing seeds.
Country plough:

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Country plough

It penetrates into the soil and breaks it open. It can be used for dry land,
garden land and wetland ploughing operations.

Share - It is the working part of the plough attached to the shoe with which
it penetrates into the soil and breaks it open.
Shoe - It supports and stabilizes the plough at the required depth.
Body - It is main part of the plough to which the shoe, beam and handle
are generally attached. In country plough body and shoe are integral part.
Beam - It is generally a long wooden piece, which connects the main body
of the plough to the yoke.
Handle - A wooden piece vertically attached to the body to enable the
operator to control the plough.

Jannatul Ferdows Nipa Lecturer, Dept. of Agril. Engg. SAU

03/25/2025
Dhaka
Mould board plough:
•Function:
1) cutting the furrow slice
2) lifting the soil
3) turning the furrow slice and
4) pulverizing the soil.

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Mould board plough:

Components:

A) Share - It penetrates into the soil and makes a horizontal cut below
the soil surface. It is a sharp, well-polished and pointed component
• B) Mouldboard - The mouldboard is that part of the plough which
receives the furrow slice from the share. If lifts,
turns and breaks the furrow slice.
• C) Land side - It is the flat plate which bears against and transmits
lateral thrust of the plough bottom to the furrow wall.
• D) Frog -Frog is that part of the plough bottom to which the other
components of the plough bottom are attached.

03/25/2025 Md. Nurul Kadir Lecturer, Dept. of Agril. Engg. SAU Dhaka
 Adjustment of
mouldboard plough

Horizontal suction
It is the maximum clearance between the land side and a horizontal plant touching point of share
at its gunnel side and heal of land side. This suction helps the plough to cut the proper width of
furrow slice.

Vertical suction
It is the maximum clearance under the land side and the horizontal surface when the plough is
resting on a horizontal surface in the working position. It is the vertical distance from the ground,
measured at the joining point of share and land side. It helps the plough to penetrate into the soil
to a proper depth.
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 Mouldboard plough is better than the
country plough, because-
1. Ploughing depth of mouldboard plough is more than country plough
2. Country plough cannot alter the soil but mouldboard plough can alter the soil
3. Almost same energy is needed in each cultivation by country plough
4. Country plough cultivate less area than mouldboard plough
5. Less number of cultivation is needed to prepare land by mouldboard plough.

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Disc Plough:

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Disc Plough:

• Advantages of disc plough

• A disc plough can be forced to penetrate into the soil which is too
hard and dry for working with a mouldboard plough.
• It works well in sticky soil in which a mouldboard plough does not
scour.
• It is more useful for deep ploughing.
• It can be used safely in stony and stumpy soil without much danger
of breakage.
• A disc plough works well even after a considerable part of the disc is
worn off in abrasive soil.
• It works in loose soil also (such as peat) without much clogging.

03/25/2025 Md. Nurul Kadir Lecturer, Dept. of Agril. Engg. SAU Dhaka
 Disc angle - It is the angle at which the plane of the cutting edge of the disc is inclined to the
direction of travel. Usually the disc angle of good plough varies between 42° to 45°.
Tilt angle - It is the angle at which the plane of the cutting edge of the disc is inclined to a vertical
line. The tilt angle varies from 15° to 25° for a good plough.

Effect of Disc and Tilt angle in tillage operation???

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Implements for Secondary Tillage

Tillage operations performed after primary tillage to
create proper soil tilth for seeding and planting are
called secondary tillage. These operations are lighter
and finer operations performed on the soil after primary
tillage operations. The implements used for secondary
tillage operations are called secondary tillage
implements they include different types of harrows,
rollers and pulverizers, rotary tillers, tools for mulching
and fallowing, cage wheels etc.
HARROWS
1. Used before ploughing to cut vegetable matter such as corn
stock, cotton stalk, and weeds and mix with soil for soil
conservation
2. Used to pulverize the top soil so that the furrow slices will make
better connection with the bottom of the sole preventing air
space when slices are turned
3. Used after ploughing to pulverize the soil and put it in better tilth
for the reception of the seed
4. Used for the cultivation of crops
5. Used for summer fallowing
6. Used to cover the seeds after sowing

• There are many kinds of harrows namely, the disc

harrow, spike tooth harrow, spring tooth harrow, rotary
cross- harrow, soil surgeon, triangular harrow, acme
harrow, blade harrow , reciprocating power harrow etc.

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DISC HARROW

It is a harrow, which performs the

harrowing operation by means of a set
of rotating discs, each set being mounted on a common shaft. Disc harrow is
found very suitable for hard ground with full of stalks and grasses. It cuts the
lumps of soil, clods and roots. Discs are mounted on one, two or more axles
which may be set at a variable angle to the line of motion. As the harrow is
pulled ahead, the discs rotate on the ground.

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DISC HARROW

PARTS OF A DISC HARROW

i. Disc: It is a circular concave disc which
cuts and inverts the soil.
ii. Gang: Each set of discs that are mounted
on a common shaft is called the gang.
iii. Gang bolt or arbor bolt: It is a long heavy square headed bolt. Discs are mounted on the gang
bolt. The spacing between the discs on the gang bolt ranges from 15 to 25 cm for light duty and 25
to 30 cm for heavy duty harrows.
iv. Gang angle- The angle between the axis of the gang bolt and the direction of travel is called the
gang angle.
iv. Gang control lever: This lever is used to change the gang angle of the gangs which in turn alters
the width of operation.

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DISC HARROW

• v. Spool or spacer: The flanged tube, mounted on the gang bolt

between every two discs to prevent the lateral movement of the disc
on the shaft is called the `spool’ or `spacer’.
• vi. Bearing: Bearing is essential for frictionless rotation of the gang.
• vii. Transport wheel: In trailing type disc harrows, transport wheels
are provided for transport of the harrow on roads without damage to
the edges of the discs .
viii. Scraper: It removes the soil that may stick to the concave side of
the disc while working and thus prevents clogging of the discs.
ix. Weight box: A box like frame is provided on the main frame of the
harrow for putting additional weight on the implement to increase
the penetration of the disc in the soil

03/25/2025 Md. Nurul Kadir Lecturer, Dept. of Agril. Engg. SAU Dhaka
 Depending upon the disc arrangements, disc harrows are divided into two classes a) Single action and b) Double
action.

1. Single action disc harrow

It is a harrow with two gangs placed end to end, which throw the soil in opposite directions. The discs
are arranged in such a way that right side gang throws the soil towards right, and left side gang throws
the soil towards left
2. Double action disc harrow
A disc harrow consisting of two or more gangs, in which a set of one or two gangs follow behind the set
of the other one or two, arranged in such a way that the front and back gangs throw the soil in
opposite directions. Thus the entire field is worked twice in each trip.
It may be of two types a) Tandem and b) Off-set.
a) Tandem disc harrow - It is a disc harrow comprising of four gangs in which each gang can be
angled in opposite direction
b) Offset disk harrow has one right-hand gang (throwing the soil to the right) and one left – hand
gang (throwing the soil to the left), operating in tandem.

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