Evaluation of Organic Pellet Fertilizer Distribution Performance in a Ground-Driven Fertilizer Spreader

Although research on field-type fertilizer spreaders is prevalent, investigations into small-scale equipment are almost absent. In this study, the performance of the distribution of pelletized organic fertilizers was determined with a ground-driven fertilizer spreader. The experiments were conducted in a laboratory environment devoid of wind influence. Organic fertilizer, characterised by a density of 679 kg m-3, was utilised in the form of cylindrical pellets with an average diameter of 3.7 mm and a length of 5.61 mm. A collection area measuring 500 mm in width and 9 m in length was established with 32 collection trays, each sized 250×500 mm, arranged perpendicular to the machine's movement direction. The research investigations were conducted in triplicate at varying machine forward speeds (2, 4, and 6 km h-1) and different orifice areas (1200, 1600, and 2000 mm²). Coefficients of variation (CV%) employed to assess the homogeneity of transverse fertilizer distribution were computed for each replication. As a result, the lowest CV% value was calculated as 9.42% at 2.5 m working width, 1200 mm2 orifice area and 4 km h-1 forward speed. In 1600 and 2000 mm2 orifice areas, the lowest CV% values were obtained as 17.08% and 16.8%, respectively, at a forward speed of 4 km h-1 and a working width of 3 m. The CV% results derived from this study were assessed according to the acceptable upper limit of 20%.