Abstract: A new Double-V-shaped (DVS) furrow opener was designed to further insure the operation of soybean ridge cultivation precision planting, improve the sowing quality and sowing depth uniformity. The opener consists of shovel stand and profiling press mechanism. The performance of this opener was experimentally studied in soybean fields. The opening depths were set to 40 mm, 50 mm and 60 mm respectively, and working speeds were set to 1.9 m/s, 2.2 m/s and 2.5 m/s respectively; the sowing Depth Variation Coefficient (DVC) and sowing Width Variation Coefficient (WVC) were measured as the indexes. Experimental results show that the SVS furrow opener can smooth the furrow cliff, improve the sowing quality and decrease both DVC and WVC. The minimal DVC was 0.086 when the furrow depth was 40 mm and working speed was 1.9 m/s, and the minimal WVC was 1.356 when the furrow depth was 60 mm and the working speed was 1.9 m/s. Optimization analysis of the experimental data using Design-Expert software shows that the working quality of the cooperation of double-disk digger and DVS furrow opener is better than that of the DVS furrow opener. The best operation condition is at 1.9 m/s working speed and 57 mm opening depth, where the DVC is 0.15 and WVC is 1.25.

Key words: agricultural engineering, Double-V-shaped furrow opener, opener, sowing depth variation coefficient, sowing width variation coefficient