DEVELOPMENT OF A GARLIC SEEDER FOR TWO-WHEEL TRACTORS: A SEARCH FOR QUALITY IN DEPTH, LONGITUDINAL DISTRIBUTION, AND ORIENTATION OF BULBS

ABSTRACT A two-wheel tractor-drawn garlic seeder was developed. The seeder was composed of a multiple adjustment mechanism, transmission and mulching devices, a furrow opener, a ground roller, and a depth adjustment device. The problem of multiple seeds being placed in a single hole was solved through the vibration and change in volume of the seed-picking spoon. The problems with the seed orientation and sowing depth were overcome by the multi-stage cam adjustment mechanism and the depth adjustment device, respectively. After the key components of the new garlic seeder were successfully developed, product manufacturing, simulation verification, and testing were performed. The results showed that an average correct seed orientation rate of 90.97%, a missing-seed rate of 1.12%, and a single-hole repetition rate of 1.16% were achieved. The depth adjustment device ensured the required garlic sowing depth, and its sowing efficiency was 25–45 times that of manual planting, effectively meeting the needs of growers.