To download article.

DOI: 10.15507/2658-4123.035.202503.513-528

Operational and Technological Indicators of the Aggregates with the Plows PNL-8-40 and PBS-8М for Processing Soils in Arid Regions

Sergey V. Startsev
Dr.Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Professor of the Department of Technical Support of the Agroindustrial Complex, Saratov State University of Genetics, Biotechnology and Engineering named after N. I. Vavilov (4/3 Prospekt im. Peter Stolypin, Saratov 410012, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3310-0035, Researcher ID: JWA-0022-2024, Scopus ID: 57212200354, SPIN-code: 4856-1685, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Andrey V. Pavlov
Cand.Sci, (Eng.), Associate Professor of the Department of Technical Support for the Agro-Industrial Complex, Saratov State University of Genetics, Biotechnology and Engineering named after N. I. Vavilov (4/3 Prospekt im. Peter Stolypin, Saratov 410012, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4447-3964, SPIN-code: 2916-7482, andrej.pavloffThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Evgeny S. Nesterov
Cand.Sci, (Eng.), Associate Professor of the Department of Technical Support of the Agroindustrial Complex, Saratov State University of Genetics, Biotechnology and Engineering named after N. I. Vavilov (4/3 Prospekt im. Peter Stolypin, Saratov 410012, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0870-7516, SPIN-code: 9820-4786, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract
Introduction. The main direction of economic development is creating innovative technologies and products, which can be competitive in the global market. The production of crop products is impossible without using the most energy-intensive technology of mold-board plowing, which has a strong effect on yielding ability in arid regions.
Aim of the Study. The study is aimed at determining the operational and technological indicators of the production plow PNL-8-40 and the newly designed plow PBS-8M to reduce energy consumption and improve the agrophysical properties of the tilled soil.
Materials and Methods. The operational and technological indicators of tilling soil process with the production plow PNL-8-40 and the newly designed plow PBS-8M were determined using standard research methods. According to the standard used by the Association of agricultural machinery test-engineers (СТО АИСТ 4.1-2010), there were defined the functional parameters of the plows: working speed, effective operating width, productivity per hour of main time, and per-hectare fuel consumption. In accordance with СТО АИСТ 001-2010, there was made the agronomic assessment of plowing quality. There we assessed the plowing depth, ridgeness of treated soil surface, degree and depth of plowing in stubble.
Results. As a result of the study, there has been assessed the expediency of using the wide-coverage plow PBS-8M in the arid conditions of the left-bank area of the Volga region. There have been theoretically calculated and experimentally tested the operational indicators of plowing units. The productivity of the eight-furrow plow PBL-8M at a speed of 2.53 m/s and a plowing depth of 23 cm per hour is 30–33% more than the productivity of the eight-body plow PBL-8-40 with a less (by 22%) fuel consumption. According to the agrotechnical evaluation of technologies, the compared plows differ in the degree of trash embedding plant and crop residues along the depth of the plowing layer. The indicators of the soil density and water permeability parameters are almost equal.
Discussion and Conclusion. As a result of using the new designed plow PBS-8M for cultivating heavy loamy soil, energy consumption is reduced while the agro-physical properties of the soil are improved. The plowing unit K-701+PBS-8M, moving at a working speed of 2.53 m/s, completes the work in space of an hour of basic operation time with a productivity of 3.9 ha/h. When using the unit K-701+PNL-8-40 in this operation mode, the productivity is 2.6 ha/h. When using the unit K-701+PBS-8M, fuel consumption is reduced to 3.8 kg per a hectare compared to the use of the unit K-701+PNL-8-40. The studies of the quality of the soil tillage showed that the soil tillage with both plows is of even depth of 23.0–23.4 cm across the full working width. The deviation of the working width from the designed width was 4.0% for each plow. The field surface ridge index was 6.9–8.2 cm. The technological parameters of the plows differed only in the degree of embedding millet plant and crop residues into the soil. After passing the plow PBS-8M, the stubble was distributed in a layer of 5–12 cm at a depth of 8–15 cm, after passing the plow PNL-8-40, the stubble was closer to the bottom of the furrow from 12 to 22 cm. The indicators of soil density and water permeability determined, after steam cultivation and before sowing winter wheat, were almost equal the studied plows that affected the resulting crop yield of 23.5–24.0 c/ha.

Keywords: the new designed plow PBS-8M, the production plow PNL-8-40, plow productivity, soil, soil tillage depth, in stubble, per-hectare fuel consumption, soil density and water permeability

Funding: The work was carried out as part of research under state contract No. 20-gc dated 11.29.2013 “Conducting research on improving resource-saving tillage tools for basic tillage, aggregated with tractors with a capacity of 370–450 hp in the Saratov region”.

Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose objective comments contributed to the quality of the article.

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

For citation: Startsev S.V., Pavlov A.V., Nesterov E.S. Operational and Technological Indicators of the Aggregates with the Plows PNL-8-40 and PBS-8М for Processing Soils in Arid Regions. Engineering Technologies and Systems. 2025;35(3):513–528. https://doi.org/10.15507/2658-4123.035.202503.513-528

Authors contribution:
S. V. Startsev – formulating the study idea, aims and objectives; conducting the study, specifically performing the experiments and collecting data/evidence; preparing the article manuscript: critical analysis of the manuscript and of comments and corrections made by the members of the research group during the pre-publication and post-publication stages.
A. V. Pavlov – conducting the study, specifically performing the experiments, and collecting data/evidence; preparing the manuscript, specifically writing the initial manuscript version (including its translation into the English language).
E. S. Nesterov – conducting the study, specifically performing the experiments and collecting data/evidence; preparing the manuscript, working on charts, specifically writing the initial manuscript version (including its translation into the English language).

All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Submitted 07.03.2025;
revised 26.03.2025;
accepted 04.04.2025

REFERENCES

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.