Central Luzon State University

College of Engineering
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija 3120

AM 780 – AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION AND

MACHINERY MANAGEMENT

Primary & Secondary Tillage Implements

and their uses in Agriculture

Submitted by:
LARRY S. OLIPAS/ MSAEn 1

Submitted to:
ROMEO B. GAVINO, Ph.D.
Professor VI

January 2020
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AM 780 – AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION AND

MACHINERY MANAGEMENT

Primary & Secondary Tillage Implements

and their uses in Agriculture

Introduction
Tillage is the mechanical manipulation of the soil for the purpose of weed control, crop
production affecting significantly the soil characteristics such as soil water conservation, soil
temperature, infiltration and evapotranspiration processes (Carter M., 2005).
Tillage operations used to prepare the seedbed can be divided into two categories: primary
and secondary tillage. Primary tillage can include the use of the moldboard plow, chisel plow, or
disk plow. It is often the most intensive form of tillage. For example, moldboard plowing inverts
the soil over the entire field. Primary tillage marks the end of one cropping season and the
beginning of the next and creates a dramatic visible change on the landscape. Subsequent tillage
operations used to prepare the seedbed are referred to as secondary tillage. These operations can
include the use of tandem or off-set disks, field cultivator, harrows, packers. Operations that
disturb the soil during seeding, management, or harvesting the crop are referred to as tertiary tillage
(Lobb D., 2008).
Tillage can be considered as a time-and-space operation within a given field. The time
component is introduced because different tillage implements are used throughout a production
sequence to achieve different goals in manipulating the soil profile. The space component is
introduced because different tillage implements affect the soil in a variety of ways across a field.
An example of this is that the preplant tillage operation often disturbs the entire soil surface, while
cultivation only disturbs the area between the rows of plants. An entire production sequence can
be considered as a series of tillage operations that changes the soil surface in different ways
(Hatfield, J. & Jeffries, A., 2005).

Objectives
To familiarize the students to the different tillage equipment (both primary and secondary
tillage equipment) used in soil manipulation to provide good soil condition for crop production.

Methodology
The students visited the PhilMech to identify the different tillage equipment:

1. Primary Tillage
2. Secondary Tillage

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A. Primary Tillage
Primary tillage is the first soil tillage after the last harvest. It is normally conducted when
the soil is wet enough to allow plowing and strong enough to give reasonable levels of traction.
Objectives of primary tillage
• To reduce soil strength
• To rearrange aggregates
• To cover plant materials and burry weeds
• To kill insects and pests
Primary Tillage Implements
• Wooden plough
• Moldboard Plough
• Disc Plough
• Subsoil Plough/ Chisel Plough
• Rotary Disc Plough
• Turn-wrest or Reversible or One-way Plough
1. Wooden plough
Indigenous plough is an implement whichis made of wood with an iron share point. It cuts a V
shaped furrow and opens the soil but there is no inversion. Ploughingoperation is also not perfect
because some unploughed strip is always left between furrows.

2. Moldboard Plough
The parts of moldboard plough are frog or body, moldboard or wing, share, landside, connecting,
rod, bracket and handle. This type of plough leaves no unploughed land as the furrow slices are
cut clean and inverted to one side resulting in better pulverization.

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3. Disc Plough
The disc plough is more suitable for land in which there is much fibrous growth of weeds as the
disc cuts and incorporates the weeds. The disc plough works well in soils free from stones. No
harrowing is necessary to break the clods of the upturned soil as in a mouldboard plough.

4. Rotary Disc Plough

Rotary plough cuts the soil and pulverizes it. The cutting of soil is done by either blades or tynes.
The blade types are widely used. The depth of cut is up to 12 to 15 cm. It is suitable for light soils.

5. Subsoiler/ Chisel Plough

Subsoil plough is designed to break up hard layers or pans without bringing them to the surface.
The body of the subsoil plough is wedge shaped and narrow while the share is wide so as to shatter
the hard pan and making only a slot on the top layers.

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B. Secondary Tillage
Secondary tillage consists of conditioning the soil to meet the different tillage objectives
of the farm. These operations consume less power per unit area compared to primary tillage
operations.

Objectives of Secondary Tillage

• Improve soil tilt and prepare a seedbed.
• Manipulate plant residues and farm wastes.
• Manage water and air in the soil Control weeds and soil-borne insects pests and diseases.
• Establish a surface layer which prevents wind and soil erosion.

Types of Secondary Tillage Implements

• Disc harrow • Bund Former
• Spike tooth harrow • Ridger
• Spring tooth harrow • Leveller
• Acme harrow • Power Tiller
• Triangular harrow • Cultivator
• Blade harrow (Bakhar)
• Guntaka
• Reciprocating power harrow
Harrow
Harrow is a secondary tillage implement that cuts the soil to a shallow depth for
smoothening and pulverizing the soil as well as to cut the weeds and to mix the materials with the
soil.
1. Disc harrow
It is a harrow, which performs the harrowing operation by means of a set, or a number of sets of
rotating slat discs, each set being mounted on a common shaft. Disc are mounted on one, two or
more axles which may be set at a variable angle to the line of motion. It cuts the lumps of soil,
clods and roots.

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2. Spike tooth harrow

It is a harrow with peg shaped teeth of diamond cross section to a rectangular frame. It is used to
break the clod, stir the soil, uproot the weeds, level the ground, break the soil and cover the seeds.
Its principle is to smoothen and level the soil directly after plugging. Spike tooth harrows may be
of rigid type and flexible type. Tractor drawn harrows are usually flexible type. It has got the
advantage of being turned up for transporting purpose. This harrow mainly consists of teeth, tooth
bar frame, clamps, guard, braces, levers and hooks.

3. Spring tooth harrow

It is a harrow with tough flexible teeth, suitable to work in hard and stony soils. Spring tooth
harrow is fitted with springs having loops of elliptical shape. It gives a spring action in working
condition. It is used in the soil when obstruction like stone, roots and weeds are hidden below the
ground surface. This type pulverizes the soil and helps in killing weeds. The levers are provided
for setting the teeth for varying the depth of harrowing. For light harrowing, the adjustment is done
in slanting position.

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4. Acme harrow
It is also called as knife harrow. The front part of the knife breaks the soil and crushes the clods.
This harrow obtains a good pulverization. This harrow has a curved stiff blade attached to a
transverse horizontal frame and projecting rearward that crush the clods in front and stir the surface
soil in the rear.

5. Triangular Harrow
It is a spike tooth harrow with triangular frame. The frame is made of wood and pointed spikes are
fitted in the frame. The teeth of the spikes are fixed and not adjustable. This type pulverizes the
soil and helps in killing weeds. The levers are provided for setting the teeth for varying the depth
of harrowing.

6. Blade harrow
It is used to prepare seedbeds mostly in clayey soils. It works like a sweep, which moves into top
surface of the soil without inverting the soil.

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7. Guntaka
It is an implement, which consists of one or more blades attached to a frame or beam. It is used for
shallow working of the soil with minimum soil inversion. It is mainly used to prepare the seed bed
mostly in clay soils. It can function as a leveler and is used as a leveling device on wet paddy. The
function of Blade harrows is the same as that of the guntaka.

8. Reciprocating power harrow

It is a harrow fitted with rigid tines driven by the power take off in a reciprocating, transverse or
rotary motion as the machine moves forward. It has two horizontal oscillating arms having
staggered pegs in two rows at 200 mm spacing. It is an implement for breaking up and smoothing
out the surface of the soil.

9. Bund former
It is used for making bunds or ridges by collecting the
soil. Bunds are required to hold water in the soil, thereby
one can conserve moisture and prevent run-off. The size
of the bund former is determined by measuring the
maximum horizontal distance between the two rear ends
of the farming boards.

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10. Ridger
It is an implement importantly used to form ridges required for sowing row crop seeds and plants
in well-tilled soil. The ridger is also used for forming field or channels, earthing up and similar
other operations. Ridger is also known as ridging plough.

11. Leveller
Leveling work is carried out to modify the existing contours of land so as to achieve certain
objectives desired for efficient agricultural production system.
These objectives include:
(i) Efficient application of irrigation water,
(ii) improved surface drainage,
(iii)minimum soil erosion
(iv) increased conservation of rain water specially on dry lands and
(v) provision of an adequate field size and even topography for efficient mechanization

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12. Rotary Tiller

A rotary tiller uses a set of curved tines attached to a rotating shaft that is powered by your tractor's
PTO to dig into your garden soil, churning it into a fine, essentially clod-free seedbed. You can
adjust the working depth of your tiller by adjusting the skid shoes.

13. Cultivators
• It is an implement for inter cultivation with laterally adjustable tines or discs to work between
crop rows.
• The cultivator stirs the soil, and breaks the clods.
• The tines fitted on the frame of the cultivator comb the soil deeply in the field.
• A cultivator performs functions intermediate between those of plough and the harrow.
• Destruction of weeds is the primary function of a cultivator.

Important functions performed by a cultivator

1. Intercultural the fields.
2. Destroy the weeds in the field.
3. Aerate the soil for proper growth of crops.
4. Conserve moisture by preparing mulch on the surface.
5. To sow seeds when it is provided with sowing attachments.
6. To prevent surface evaporation and encourage rapid infiltration of rain water into the soil.

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Trailed type cultivator

It consists of a main frame which carries a number of cross members to which tines are
fitted. At the forward end of the cultivator, there is a hitch arrangement for hitching purpose.
A pair of wheels are provided in the cultivator.

Mounted Cultivator
Tractors fitted with hydraulic lift operate the mounted type cultivators. A rectangular frame
of angle iron is mounted on three-point hydraulic linkage of the tractor. The cross members
carry the tines in two staggered lines. Depending upon the type of soil and crop, shovels are
chosen for use on the cultivators.

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CONCLUSION
Tillage is the mechanical manipulation of the soil for seedbed preparation, cultivation and
weed control. This is a great factor affecting plant establishment and its reproductive/maturity
cycle. Tillage practices can range from nearly complete soil inversion, with mold-board or disc
plowing, to minimal soil disruption with shovel, with the use of zero-tillage (direct drilling)
techniques. In addition to determining characteristics of soil disturbance and residue incorporation,
tillage practices can have important effects on weed density and species composition. With less
tillage and more plant residue on the soil surface, mechanical weed-control operations may be
more difficult to perform and less effective. Factors determining tillage effects on weeds include:
1. depth of seed establishment
2. seed survival at different soil depths
3. seed dormancy in response to establishment
4. seedling ability to emerge from different depth of planting

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REFERENCES

Carter, M. (2005). Conservation Tillage. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment.

Jeffries, J. H. (2005). Zone Tillage. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment.
Lobb, D. (2008). Soil Movement by Tillage and Other Agricultural Activities. Encyclopedia of
Ecology.
Sazib, A. (2018). Primary and Secondary Tillage Implements and their uses. India: International
University of Business, Agriculture and Technology.

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