Investigating factors affecting the performance of a plastic mulch remover and determining optimal conditions and parameters

Plastic debris remaining in the field after harvest is one of the difficulties in farming under plastic mulch. In this study, the performance parameters of a domestic plastic remover machine in collecting plastic mulches were evaluated. The dependent factors were fuel consumption, plastic tearing frequency during collecting and the total collecting time. The independent factors included film thickness (two levels: 20 and 30 μm), ground speed (three levels: 2.7, 3.8 and 5.4 km/h) and the time interval between harvesting and plastic collecting (two levels: 5 and 10 days). The tests were performed in triplicate in a full factorial experimental design. Experiments were carried out in some farms of Fars province employing a two-wheel drive MF399 tractor. The results showed that using thick plastic (30 μm) reduces the plastic tearing frequency and hence with a lower number of stops, reduces the fuel consumption and increases the efficiency of the machine during plastic collection. To increase the efficiency of plastic collection, when using 30 μm plastic, the ground speed of 5.4 km/h is recommended. The best plastic collecting time with the minimum tearing frequency of are recommended as 5 and 10 days after harvesting for 20 and 30 μm plastics, respectively. According to the results the least fuel consumption was observed for collection of 30 μm plastic and with ground speed of 5.4 km/h. Also the simultaneous collection of drip irrigation tapes and plastic mulch tapes reduce costs and increase the efficiency of the plastic mulch remover.