Effect of different size and orientation of rectangular rotary blades on quality of puddling

The effect of different combinations of size and orientation of rectangular blades of a wet land puddler, on puddling index, force requirement and performance index was investigated under controlled conditions in a soil-bin from the study. It was observed with the blade size of 15-cm width × 8.5-cm depth and a blade angle of 30° with respect to shaft gave better performance than other combinations in terms of minimum puddling index, minimum horizontal force, vertical force, specific energy and maximum performance index. The values are, respectively, 67.95%, 105.12 N, 33.85 N, and 9.71 kJ/m³ and 6.69. The above-mentioned parameters of the blade were found to be very close to the predicted values obtain through MREG computer programme for optimization of size and orientation of puddler blades.