Design and Experiment of a Hydraulic Control Depth Wheel with Terrain-Following Feature for No-till Seeders in Stubble Field

Abstract

Aiming to address issues with traditional mechanical adjustment methods for no-till precision planters in stubble fields, such as the ground wheel assembly’s inability to adapt to terrain changes, leading to unstable residue clearing performance and increased wheel slip, a hydraulically controlled terrain-following depth-limiting ground wheel assembly was designed. Its hydraulic system enabled rapid adjustment of wheel height while maintaining a constant position, ensuring stable furrow opener depth. The cushioning spring reduced ground-induced impacts transmitted to the planter, enhancing the stability of the residue clearing device. Through theoretical analysis, the main structural parameters of the terrain-following depth-limiting ground wheel assembly were determined. Simulation tests identified the optimal stiffness of the cushioning spring as 1.2×105N/m. Comparative field trials demonstrated that the hydraulically controlled terrain-following depth-limiting ground wheel assembly operated stably with lower slip rates. When the furrow opener depth qualification criterion was set at (50±10)mm, the qualification rates for opener soil penetration depth were 62% and 82% for the mechanically-adjusted ground wheel assembly and hydraulic-controlled terrain-following depth-control wheel assembly, respectively. The hydraulic assembly exhibited a 20 percentage point higher qualification rate than the mechanical assembly. Furthermore, the hydraulic terrain-following wheel demonstrated significantly lower slip rates. While both adjustment methods showed increasing slip rates with the rise of operating speeds, the hydraulic terrain-following wheel exhibited a smaller rate of increase.

Keywords: no-tillage planter;wheel with terrain-following feature;slip rate;hydraulics control