WORKING CAPACITY OF DISK DISCONNERS OF GRAIN SEEDERS IN VARIOUS OPERATING CONDITIONS
There is a good practice in the use of polymeric materials for processing disk coulters of grain seeders. It has been established that polymer coatings are a good anti-soil buildup and a decrease in traction resistance when its moisture is more than 25 %, but with soil moisture not exceeding 15 %, increased wear of such coatings will be observed . It should be borne in mind that the moisture of the soil layer is uneven in depth even after four hundred hours of moisture evaporation, due to which the wear effect of the surface of the coulter discs will be observed almost always, but with different intensities, depending on the type and structure of the soil, weather conditions, and regime sowing work. The coefficient of friction and the relative wear rate on the converted MTU-01 friction machine were determined. The properties of caprolon, fluoroplastic, UHMWPE P-500, UHMWPE P-1000 were studied in comparison with a standard steel sample on medium loamy chestnut soil with a moisture content of 8-10 %. The results showed that the most wear-resistant polymers were ultra-high molecular weight UHMWPE polyethylene and caprolon, in which the wear rate is up to 18 times lower than that of fluoroplast and up to 4 times lower than that of steel. We developed a graphical diagram of the stages of operability of the “disk coulter” system based on experimental results, well-known data on the testing of polymer materials for stickiness, wear resistance, and reliability theory. The normal working capacity of the system implies sowing in agro-technical terms corresponding to the physical ripeness of the soil or its moisture content of 11 - 25 %. Covering discs with polymeric materials will make it possible to reduce the dependence of farms on agrotechnical periods and to sow work in dry and waterlogged soil without violating the operating conditions of the sowing unit.