Objective  To optimize the design of the rotary tiller tool for wheat strip-till planter, and improve the operation quality.

Method  Three typical rotary tillage tools (C-type blade, straight blade and deep tillage blade) and one optimized rotary tillage tool (combination of straight blade and deep tillage blade) were applied. The field in-situ cultivation was performed under the condition of centralized surface straw treatment with the rotation speed of the blade shaft at 180, 280, 380 and 510 r/min.

Result  The C-type blade could create continuous and intact seedbed, but most soil fragments were thrown out seedbed during the cultivation process, and the backfill effect was the worst. The deep tillage blade had good performance in soil tillage and breaking, it created continuous and intact seedbed but the boundary was irregular, and it could not effectively control the soil disturbance range in the process of tillage. The straight blade had advantage in its control of seedbed boundary, but it could not make continuous seedbed when the rotation speed of blade shaft was 180 and 510 r/min, and the soil fragments formed by tillage was too large (mean weight diameter > 40 mm) when the rotation speed of the blade shaft was 280 or 380 r/min. The combination blades benefited from the organic combination of straight blade and deep tillage blade, therefore it had outstanding advantages in shape formation of seedbed, soil fragmentation degree and backfill effect and energy consumption.

Conclusion  Under the condition of centralized treatment of surface straw, the combination blades are recommended as the tillage tool of wheat strip-till planter for clay soil.