A performance evaluation of a new helical two-sided manure distributor

Although used prevalently in both large conventional and organic farms, modern manure spreaders offer unremarkable outcomes in terms of distribution width and uniformity. A study published in the journal Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food seeks to determine the parameters by which the performance of new helical two-sided manure spreaders is to be determined.

• Modern manure spreaders tend to suffer from a non-uniform application when the moisture concentration of manure increases. The same outcome is observed whenever manure with varying moisture concentrations is used.
• The researchers focused on a new helical two-sided manure distributor capable of spreading manure at different moisture contents with long distribution width in uniform patterns.
• Their evaluation involved the following factors: moisture content, forward velocity, and the rotational speed in the drum. This revealed that both moisture content and rotational speed had a significant impact on both distribution width and uniformity.
• Manure with a moisture content of 23 percent wet basis (w.b.) and 54 percent w.b. and a rotation speed of 1,000 rotations per minute (rpm) could be distributed by the machine at a maximum width of 19.3 m and 23.3 m respectively.

The results indicate that increasing moisture content also increased the manure distribution uniformity.

Learn more about manure fertilizers for your organic garden at HomeGardeningNews.com.

Journal Reference:

Taghizadeh-Tameh J, Jafari A, Mousazadeh H, Tarabi N. EVALUATION OF SOME EFFECTIVE PARAMETERS IN PERFORMANCE OF A HELICAL TWO-SIDED MANURE DISTRIBUTOR. Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food. 2017;10(2):133–139. DOI: 10.1016/j.eaef.2016.11.002