PERFORMANCE OF OVERFLOW AUGER AND PLAIN GRAVITY AUGER FERTILIZER METERING DEVICES ACCORDING TO THE LONGITUDINAL INCLINATION

Abstract

The planter machines have the purpose of simultaneously place in the ground the seed and the fertilizer. Therefore they have delivering mechanisms called seeds and fertilizer metering devices. For the fertilizer, the mechanisms differ, between themselves, in their construction and different options are offered in the market. Among them there is the helical metering type, constituted of an auger below the fertilizer deposit. Research demonstrates that this helical metering device is offered as option in approximately 65% of the available models in the Brazilian market. The objective of this work was to analyze the performance of two helical metering devices, identified as overflow and gravity auger, varying the longitudinal leveling of the planter, using three speeds in the drive axle of the applicator, fertilizer granule mixture, with four replications. The amount of product deposited for unit of time and the performance of the meters in function of the longitudinal inclination were determined. . The results had demonstrated that all the inclinations had provided significant variation in the dosage. The overflow type meter had presented better comparative performances when compared to the ones of the gravity type.