Effects of tilt angle of disk plough on some soil physical properties, work rate and wheel slippage under light clay soil

Standard Disk Plough(SDP)is the integral element of traditional farming system in Middle and Northern Sudan.In SDP,the tilt angle between the planes of the cutting edge of the disk which is inclined to a vertical line may be altered according to the field conditions.Tractor drivers usually use an angle close to maximum in order to decrease the tillage depth,consequently decreasing power requirements,without considering the tillage quality and the impact on the soil properties.This experiment was conducted at the College of Agricultural Studies farm of Sudan University of Science and Technology to study the effects of three tilt angles(15°,20°and 25°)on soil bulk density,mean weight diameter,wheel slippage,work rate(or effective field capacity)and soil volume disturbed using mounted disk plough.The nature of soil on the farm found to be light clay.The theoretical forward speed was maintained at 6 km/h.The results showed that increasing tilt angle of the plough significantly(p<0.05)increased the bulk density,mean weight diameter and field capacity while significantly decreasing the tractor wheel slippage and soil volume disturbance.