Development of an electrohydraulic drive system for the vibrating conveyor belt of the peanut digger-inverter.

Hydraulic systems are equipment widely used in stationary industrial equipment and in moving agricultural equipment and construction machines. Currently, the rotation of the vibrating conveyor belt of the peanut digger-inverter is triggered by the tractor power take-off. Considering that for the equipment to operate at its optimal, the tractor engine needs to work at low rotation, responsible for the rotation of the power take-off, this work aimed at developing an electro-hydraulic system able to transmit varying work rotations to the vibrating conveyor belt of the digger-inverter, regardless the rotation of the power take-off and the speed used in the tractor. The electro-hydraulic system uses the oil of the auxiliary hydraulic system (remote control) and electric power of the tractor battery. The rotation of the hydraulic motor that drives the vibrating conveyor axis is controlled by a proportional flow control valve while the direction of rotation is determined by an electro-hydraulic directional valve, controlled by a Vcontrol Personal Device Assistant controller installed in the tractor cab. The electro-hydraulic system developed can be used to control the rotation of the vibrating conveyor belt of the peanut digger-inverter since it meets the torque and power requirements necessary to move the vibrating conveyor belt, with the respective rotation control.

Statistical process control applied to mechanized peanut sowing as a function of soil texture.

The successful establishment of agricultural crops depends on sowing quality, machinery performance, soil type and conditions, among other factors. This study evaluates the operational quality of mechanized peanut sowing in three soil types (sand, silt, and clay) with variable moisture contents. The experiment was conducted in three locations in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The track-sampling scheme was used for 80 sampling locations of each soil type. Descriptive statistics and statistical process control (SPC) were used to evaluate the quality indicators of mechanized peanut sowing. The variables had normal distributions and were stable from the viewpoint of SPC. The best performance for peanut sowing density, normal spacing, and the initial seedling growing stand was found for clayey soil followed by sandy soil and then silty soil. Sandy or clayey soils displayed similar results regarding sowing depth, which was deeper than in the silty soil. Overall, the texture and the moisture of clayey soil provided the best operational performance for mechanized peanut sowing.