ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Abstract. Welsh onion cultivation has been efficiently mechanized. In case of chain pot seedling, they are usually transplanted using simple chain pot transplanter in the ditches made by a ditcher attached to the walking type tractor. A chain pot is approximately 14 m length, so it has to be connected with another one in order to deal with rows of 15m or longer. A staplers are usually used for the connection. Hence, this paper presents the applicability of a needle-less stapler to connect chain pots seedlings in order to improve both productivity with decreasing cost of materials and efficient transplantation. We investigated various properties which affect chain pots connection to clarify a needle-less stapler shape: the pull force (N) of a chain pot from the nursery bed, breaking force (N) differences among nursery periods, and connecting shapes.

Pull force from the nursery bed were varied between 0.5 N and 3.5 N in 8 to 9 s with 3.0 N increase when pulled out about 1 m. Breaking forces for no nursery period were 48.9 N at the center of the pot and 43.3 N between- pots, respectively. In case of one month seedlings, they were 37.6 N and 36.1 N, respectively. In case of for two months seedling, they were 28.1 N and 28.9 N, respectively. The breaking forces for chain pots connection were 21.0 N with HD-10DF, 5.9 N with SLN-MSH205, 5.2 N with SLN-MSH110, 4.7 N with ST001BK-500 and 2.9 N with 4761-405, respectively.