Application of MS Excel to Estimate Power Needs of Tillage Tools

Abstract This study deals with the application of the Microsoft Excel for the estimation of the power requirements of some tillage implements. The mathematical formulas embedded in the spreadsheet file have been developed in the previously published papers; however, those formulas were augmented herein in order to contain some agricultural mechanization issues. Another feature of this article is the ability of the spreadsheet to generate trend curves automatically. The comparison of the power expenditure aspects of different tillage implements as well as the inspection of the effect of an arbitrary selected input parameter on the spreadsheet outputs were effectively performed. Numerically, the specific work of the rotary tiller was estimated two times to five times higher than the specific work of drawing implements. Furthermore, as an example of trend curves derived in this article, the increase in disc angle in the range of 25° to 70° reduced the draft and power needs of the disc plow by 66% and 54%, respectively. However, it increased the disc plow specific draft and power by 34% and21%, respectively.