Tractor Shredder / Mulcher

A tractor shredder or mulcher is a PTO-driven implement that reduces banana pseudostems, coconut fronds, pruned tree branches up to about 100 mm diameter and field-crop residue to a coarse or fine mulch. The mulch is either left in situ for soil-fertility benefit or collected for off-site composting.

Function

A horizontal rotor carries tapered hammer or Y-shaped blades that strike the input material against fixed counter-knives inside the housing. The resulting fragments fall through a discharge opening at the rear or side. The implement is essentially the woody-stem analogue of the Rotavator, built with heavier blades and a more enclosed housing to contain flying debris.

Design and specifications

Standard rotor assemblies carry tapered 12 mm hammer or Y blades plus 10 mm secondary blades mounted on a disc. The rotor runs at 540 PTO RPM. Required tractor power is 18 HP and above for smaller widths and rises with implement width. Output varies from about 0.5 acres per hour in banana to 1,200-1,800 kg per hour of biomass throughput, depending on input material.

Operation

The implement is traversed across the residue field at low forward speed to allow full shredding. For banana plantations, it follows a pseudostem cutter (Banana Cutter Mulcher Service); for coconut, it is run over windrowed fronds; for orchard prunings, the prunings are first piled into rows. The shredded material is then incorporated into the soil by a Rotavator or Disc Rotavator.

Subsidy and adoption

ICAR-NRCB Trichy and ICAR-CPCRI (Central Plantation Crops Research Institute) have validated the implement for banana and coconut residue recycling respectively. PTO shredders are on the SMAM crop-residue-management equipment list and are widely deployed through CHCs.

References

Tractor PTO Shredder. Kovai Engineering Works.
Agricultural Shredder. Tractorkarvan.