Performance of Conventional and Locally Fabricated Chisel Plows in Canefields of the Sudanese Sugar Company

Field performance of a conventional 6-shank chisel plow of a Turkish origin supplied by Giad Company (Sudan) and two chisel plows with 6 and 10 vertical shanks locally fabricated in workshops of the Sudanese Sugar Company (SSC) was studied under conditions of ratoon fields of the SSC. Performance parameters were field capacity, drawbar pull, fuel/ha and energy/ha. Results showed that Giad plow provided higher field capacity (3.6 ha/h), required lowest drawbar pull (7.8 kN), lowest fuel consumption (5.24 L/ha) and lowest energy (7.62 kW-h/ha). Values obtained with the local 6-shank chisel plow expressed as percentages of Giad plow were respectively 96.3%, 119.2%, 126.7% and 121.9%. For the 10-shank local chisel plow, respective values were 93%, 143.6% 136.2% and 146.9%. Resulting furrow surfaces produced by the three plows were practically similar.