Determination of Force Acting on the Rice Transplanter Finger

Abstract

In order to measure the forces acting on a fixed fork type transplanting finger during separation of rice seedlings a laboratory model transplanter was developed. It was equipped with transducers to measure the forces and to measure the speed of rotation of the crank that give motion to the finger. The nursery seed rate was varied from 0.35 to 1.15 kg/m². Planting velocity varied from 0.29 to 0.55 m/s. Average tangential force on the finger had minimum and maximum magnitudes of 3.68 N and 4.70 N, respectively for 15 mm mat and 3.10 N and 5.32 N, respectively for 20 mm mat. However, one millisecond peak value of the resultant forces had a maximum value of 28.3 N and 29.7 N for 15 mm and 20 mm mats respectively. These values can be used for calculating the magnitude of deflection during the design of the transplanting finger.