Soil Descompactor Equipment for Deep Tillage

Marco Antonio Reynolds-Chávez¹, Rigoberto Zetina-Lezama¹, Ángel Capetillo-Burela¹,

 Juan Antonio López-López², and Gilbert Fresh López-López²

2. Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro. Saltillo, Mexico

Abstract: Soil preparation is definitely one of the most critical and costly agricultural activities for the establishment and subsequent development of crops in any production system. The importance is based on preserving the planting site in conditions that are favourable for crop yields. At present in our country, conventional tillage with disc plows is mostly used for primary or deep tillage of the soil, which shows the urgent need for the development of technologies to reduce the loss and degradation of this invaluable resource. The search for solutions to this problem in soil preparation has led to the study and adoption of conservation tillage practices, including vertical tillage (VT), in order to reduce the impact on the environment and especially on soil resources. It is convenient to point out that the VT is a conservation tillage alternative that promotes energy saving and improves physical properties compared to conventional tillage. The objective of the present work was to develop a prototype of a mechanical implement to remove hard soil layers, using the parameters of vertical tillage and the critical depth theory; capable of reducing fuel consumption and effective tillage time by up to 50%, in addition to improving the quality of tillage and some physical parameters of the soil compared to conventional tillage applied with disc plow. The results show the development of a prototype for deep tillage that removes hard soil layers. This equipment uses a plow with five rigid chisels with narrow tips and the combined effect of design and operating parameters. This deep tillage implement does not invert the soil and subsequently requires a harrow cross pass. Likewise, this technology represents savings in fuel consumption and effective operating time of up to 50% per hectare depending on site conditions.