Design and Development of Self Propelled Weeder for Field Crops

Weed control is major problem in India. Majority of farmers do control weed using hand tools like khurpi and so on. Though, this method proves useful yet it is very demanding of labour and full of drudgery. To solve, weeding problem, self propelled weeder was designed, developed at the CAE, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur. The self propelled weeder was designed on the basis of agronomic and machine parameters. The main feature of prototype self propelled weeder were, a 4 hp petrol start kerosene run engine, power transmission system, weeding blade (Sweep) and cage wheel. The rated engine speed 3600 rpm was reduced to 23 rpm of the cage wheel by using chain and sprocket mechanism in three steps.