Effect of trash board on moldboard plough performance at low speed and under two straw conditions

• Trash-board with mold board plough reduced force requirement in tow condition of straw.
• Trash-board with mold board plough reduced soil displacement.
• Presence of a trash board led to reduce size of clods.
• A trashboard was always creating fragmentation larger than without a trashboard.

Draught requirement is an important parameter for tillage tool performances. This study investigated the influence of trash board on the performance of moldboard plough and the system optimization. Draught and vertical forces acting on the plough were measured with and without a trash board under two straw conditions, i.e. with only stubbles and with dense straw cover. Field soil moisture content was kept at 30%. The study also used the finite element method (FEM) to simulate stress distribution on the plough. Results showed that draught significantly increased without trash board under dense straw cover as compared with only stubbles. The trash board attachment reduced draught significantly. Similar trend was also true for vertical force. FEM results were found to be compatible with the experiment. The simulated maximum equivalent stress acting on the mouldboard plough was 279.43 MPa, while the material’s yield stress was 250 MPa. Attaching trash board with the moldboard plough is important where straw cover was dense.