| Category |
Agriculture,Crop Management,Intercropping,Rural Machinery,Farm Implements,Sowing (Seed drill, Planter etc),Pre-sowing implements (Plough,harrow,Plank etc) |
| Details of Innovation |
Mansukhbhai Jagani owns 10 hectares of land. Due to unavailability of manpower, he could not complete agricultural operations in time. Though he had bullocks, there was nobody to look after them. Frustrated, he looked for an alternative, which could be used, in various other agricultural operations. It was in the year 1994, inspired by the Chhakado, a local three-wheeler taxi in Saurashtra, that he decided to design a three-wheeled bullet with an attached Santi for agricultural operations.
Mansukhbhai was well known in his village as well as in neighbouring areas for his welding and drilling workshop. One day, a farmer named Mohanbhai, asked the innovator to design a machine that could plough land; a device which would replace the bullocks. He required a mechanical device that was also a viable economical alternative to the bullocks.
How it all began
First of all, Mansukhbhai converted the petrol-driven motorcycle into a diesel-type driven by a 5.5 hp. engine. The next move was to replace the rear wheel of the motorcycle with two wheels, the kind of wheels used in the Chhakado (a three-wheel taxi used in Saurashtra). He called this new machine: Motorcycle Santi. The differential of new attachment was synchronized with the engine and the speed of the same was kept low. The attachment was designed to use the multipurpose tool bar on which various tilling, inter-culturing and sowing equipment could be mounted. This device is much smaller than the tillers used on tractors but it is stronger than the bullock-driven Santi. Moreover, the machine is cost effective: It can cultivate one acre of land in half and hour consuming only two litres fuel. It takes about half an hour to assemble and disassemble the attachment.
It, however, suffers from one limitation: on reaching one end of the field, it has to be lifted manually to the next row, otherwise, it might damage the entire plant-row in the process of changing direction. An improvement is the provision of a hydraulic system so that no mounting load is needed to keep it firmly on the ground and it can be operated by a single person. Using this Bullet-driven Santi, the cost of weeding a hectare of land is eight rupees and around ten-hectares of land can be covered in a day. The raw material required for the production of this innovation includes iron sheets, iron angles, a C-channel differential gear- box and a motorcycle with a 5.5 HP capacity diesel engine.
Modifications
In constantly striving to improve his innovation, Mansukhbhai made several modifications on the basis of the feedback he received from the farmers who had been using his Bullet Driven Santi. Previously when the Bullet-Driven Santi was used in the farm, the motorcycle tilted to one side and it also vibrated a lot. As a result, the row that it made was not straight. In addition, a person was needed to lift the motorcycle when it required to be turned. In order to overcome these limitations, Mansukhbhai put two additional bearings in the middle of the vehicle to maintain balance. Also, he has made an adjustable handle/gear, and the motorcycle Santi could be lifted. However, a person is required if sowing is to be done.
The Bullet Santi is priced at around Rs.20,000/- for the unit to be attached behind the motorcycle. The price does not include the cost of motorcycle.
Salient features:
- The Bullet-driven Santi is smaller than the tillers and tractors, but stronger than the one driven by bullocks.
- Low cost and high practical applicability for farming, inter-culturing and sowing operations.
- Easy to assemble and disassemble.
- It takes only half an hour to carry out cultivation on one acre and it consumes only two liters of diesel for the same.
- The unit is capable of performing all agricultural operations carried out by a pair of bullocks.
- This innovation is not location-specific. It is applicable to any place irrespective of geographic location.
Functional Details:
The main body - a fabricated chassis of C channel and L angle of iron which is used for the attachment of implements through nut-bolt mechanism for different purpose of farming.This chassis is mounted on the modified motorbike.
The power transmission unit in the machine is designed to reduce the rpm. and increases the torque of the rear axle. It has a differential gear box unit composed of three chain sprockets.(The chain sprocket is a part of the main axle, which is connected to two wheels to perform the function of distributing power to both wheels)
Brake systems are connected to the rear wheel, and consists of brake pedal, spring connecting rod vertical and horizontal and brake housing. The brake pedal is used to stop the machine by pushing down the pedal which with the help of spring connected to shaft pushes the brake drum on the wheel to jam the wheel, which ultimately stops the machine.
Implement lifter and press are mounted on the chassis, which is imperative for the new press design in the absence of a hydraulic system. This consists of a lever, pulley and linkages for attaching the implements. This system lifts the implements upwards by the anticlockwise movement of the lever and presses the implements downward by clockwise movement of the lever.
Working mechanism:
-This motorcycle machine called Bullet Driven Santi is a useful and mechanized machine for farming. It works on two wheels instead of the rear wheel of the bullet. So whenever needed for farming the rear wheel is replaced by the axle and the two attached wheels, which does the farming operations very fast. By connecting the Santi to the Bullet it works as plough and helps the farmer to plough the land easily without the bullocks or tractor.
-For inter-culturing, the Santi is replaced by the power tiller.
-For lifting and for the pressing work of the land the lever of the machine can be operated.
-Can be rotated in clockwise and anticlockwise directions.
-For spraying the agro-chemicals on the crops of the land, the tiller is replaced by the spraying tool.
-Track with the spacer in the axle helps in adjusting the track width for varied operation for different crops.
-The trailer attached behind the machine provides the option for haulage.
-This innovative machine works efficiently to cultivate an acre in half an hour consuming only two liters of diesel. |
Honey Bee Network Knowledge & Innovation Database (HBNKIND)