Design and Development of an Automatic Pineapple Planting Machine

Abstract

In this research, an automatic pineapple planting machine was designed with mechanical design and experimental testing and developed an automatic back up by 60-horsepower-tractor. The study factors consisted of planting speed (plants per hour) and the rotational speed of the cam mechanism affecting the feeding of the pineapple planting (rpm). Double row planting with 50 centimeters between-row spacing and 30 - 45 centimeters between-plant spacing were considered. Pineapple shoots trimmed to 30 centimeters in length and 250 - 300 grams in weight were prepared for planting. The shoots were packed into single-row cartons, mounted on the chain conveyor and fed into the trench by the operation of the crank mechanism and the plow assembly. The roots of the pineapple buds were covered by the soil after the leaves of the plow passing-by. The planting machine was capable of working at 0.60 rai per hour, at a movement speed of 0.33 m/s, fuel consumption rate of 3.15 liters per rai, planting efficiency 78.16 %, tilted about 65 degrees from the horizontal plane. It also generated an average planting depth of 15.50 cm, average distance between plants 30.50 cm, and average row spacing of 50 cm. When analyzing the economic effect of using an automatic pineapple planting machine compared to those operated by manual labor, it was found its break-even at 11 rai/year and its payback period of 137 rai or 29 working days.