[srishiva]

Originally Posted by dustom_99

I hope people replying to this thread have some basic idea about farming.
I belong to a farmers family, except my dad and me , every one we know of is a farmer. We own two tractors, MF and ford (35/45 bhp). Both tractors have massive reduction in there gearboxes and 9-10k nm is available on those massive tractor wheels.
But to be honest usually MF being lighter and little shorter on Hp is found wanting as far as actual tilting of land is concerned. As the shovels dig deeper the tractor gets slower and slower. Is simply does not have enough power to go on with fast ploughing.
So I do not have any idea how 6bhp/30nm equipment would do the job faster. It might give excellent FE , but it would not be ploughing at all because shovels would not go deep , they would barely scratch the surface. It would rather be called waste of time, non usable ploughing.
So you are basically riding around in a farm, one can cover as many acres as he like but it isn't going to be well tilted land.

I agree with you as I had posted above, not sure what the smaller tillers are supposed to do. They might be just scratching the surface, this could be what the farmers require where they use it.

We still use 2 or 3 pair bullocks to till and develop rock sized soil blocks which is not done even with tractors. For rain fed farming deep tilling is what retains more water.

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by dustom_99

. Is simply does not have enough power to go on with fast ploughing.
So I do not have any idea how 6bhp/30nm equipment would do the job faster. It might give excellent FE , but it would not be ploughing at all because shovels would not go deep , they would barely scratch the surface

you have conveniently forget that your are using MF in step farming ( i am assuming it from your location dehradun)& most probably In non Irrigated Super Dry soil. more over hills depend on rains heavily for Irrigation Where as the guy is using it in plain fields of Gujarat where soil most probably is well irrigated and already loose. I am sure that this thing will not be effective in hills of Uttrakhand and Himachal (Speaking from personnel experience as i have just come after harvesting Wheat in HP ) as Soil is very tight and dry with no or little moisture .

So yes, this Jugaad will work in gujarat .

[dustom_99]

There are very very few crops that can go ahead with just a few inches of ploughing, maize may be wheat , even they would not love just 2 inch depth.That area is usually drought hit, and such crops require good amount of water. Moreover soil in that area is not fit for such crops, they only grow well in well watered fertile plains.
Also if you do not plough deep enough, top soil will be deprived of minerals, and next season you will have to plough even deeper just to get the balance back and have even little bit of crop.
Save money in one season, to spend more than double in next few?
Any way how is a 2 shovel (2/3 inch)attachment going to overtake a 8 / 10 shovels attachment with 15-18 inches penetration in ploughing power.

[.sushilkumar]

just to point it here . We still don;t know what the guy is sowing in those fields and i am told that Mr Modi has build out a good networks of water canals In Gujarat to take care of irrigation and drinking water requirements . Some body from gujarat might be able to help us here.

PS :- We cannot compare a full grown tractor to a modified bullet invented out of sheer need.

[dustom_99]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

you have conveniently forget that your are using MF in step farming ( i am assuming it from your location dehradun)& most I probably In non Irrigated Super Dry soil. more over hills depend on rains heavily for Irrigation Where as the guy is using it in plain fields of Gujarat where soil most probably is well irrigated and already loose. I am sure that this thing will not be effective in hills of Uttrakhand and Himachal (Speaking from personnel experience as i have just come after harvesting Wheat in HP ) as Soil is very tight and dry with no or little moisture .

So yes, this Jugaad will work in gujarat .

Well assumed, assumptions are dangerous.
How do you use a tractor in step farming?
you would need a crain hoist to take tractor from one step to higher or lower one. And then how do you take your crain to lift a tractor, where a tractor can't go?
You have come from himanchal, that too after harvesting? You must be aware that tractors do not work in hills, they simply can't go from one step to next one due to very high gradient.
Don't know about himanchal, but hilly region of uttarakhand does not have even 1 tractor agency, they simply do not get sold.

My family land is in very fertile plains of ganga in UP.
Moreover it is mentioned in the article that he was inspired to make this machine because of frequent famine. How does well irrigated , fertile soil go through famines?

I am not comparing it with a full fledged tractor, the article says it can plough faster than a tractor, with lesser fuel.
I want to bring forward that mere covering distance is not farming.
A simple road going car , simply starts to burn tyres when it gets caught in a rut our pot hole.
How is a bullet not going to simply do a burnout (even if it had power enough to do this), when it has a few shovels diging in the ground? You say gujrat would have loose soil,well irrigated. A bike would simply keep rotating its tyre and not move an inch if the soil is loose and well watered with two/three shovels digging the earth.
Why do tractors have big wheels ,massive grooved tyres for?

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by dustom_99

you would need a crain hoist to take tractor from one step to higher or lower one. And then how do you take your crain to lift a tractor, where a tractor can't go?
You have come from himanchal, that too after harvesting? You must be aware that tractors do not work in hills, they simply can't go from one step to next one due to very high gradient.

If you are saying that tractors don;t work in hills, than let me clarify that it's only tractors these days where ever possible. Yes, they don;t work everywhere but major of the places are well within tractors reach . gradients are not steep at say 90 degree, majorly they are in range of 40 to 60-70 degree;s . enough for a tractor to conquer & i am speaking from personnel experience.

Originally Posted by dustom_99

Don't know about himanchal, but hilly region of uttarakhand does not have even 1 tractor agency, they simply do not get sold.

not sure why they are not being used in Uttrakhand or even they don;t have a agency . in HP we have a tractor agency in our local market.

[dustom_99]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

If you are saying that tractors don;t work in hills, than let me clarify that it's only tractors these days where ever possible. Yes, they don;t work everywhere but major of the places are well within tractors reach . gradients are not steep at say 90 degree, majorly they are in range of 40 to 60-70 degree;s . enough for a tractor to conquer & i am speaking from personnel experience.

not sure why they are not being used in Uttrakhand or even they don;t have a agency . in HP we have a tractor agency in our local market.

Step farming is exactly steps. You work on one step, move into next step. steps are seperated exactly like a stair case. It is usually 90deg for a naked eye. Elevation changes usually 4-10feet per step.
As per you 60-70deg is not steep enough and well within reach of a tractor?

[dustom_99]

Usual pic of step farming/ terrace farming from uttarakhand. May be in himanchal people first make entire mountains to have one smooth gradient, eliminate steps and then go to field.

[NoMind]

@dustom_99, I just saw his comment. I am from a agricultural background myself, and one should know that there are different kinds of soils.

Loamy soils may not need that power in tilling, where as in clayey soils and for a crop that required lot of water, say like Rice , you would need a lot of HP to grap the plough deep and quick enough to get the ploughing done.

I think this kind of equipment is meant for marginal farmers who have 1-4 acres, not landlords who have more acreage.