Stone Buriers: Everything You Need to Know

In the world of agriculture, farmers often encounter a common yet challenging problem: stones, clumps of soil, and crop residues that complicate soil preparation. To tackle this issue, the stone burier has emerged as a highly effective solution. This versatile machine is designed to prepare the soil for planting, performing multiple tasks in a single pass. In this article, we will delve into the workings of the stone burier and explore the benefits it offers to farmers.

What is a Stone Burier?

Stone buriers are specialized machines that excel in preparing soil, especially under tough conditions. Unlike other tools, the stone burier's unique functionality sets it apart. It is designed to work the soil while burying stones, clods, and crop residues, even in previously uncultivated land. While it performs well in light soil, its true potential is realized in more challenging environments, where its benefits become evident. Stone buriers are particularly well-suited for preparing seedbeds for a variety of horticultural crops, such as tomatoes and onions. They ensure optimal soil permeability and bring finely tilled soil to the surface.

How Stone Buriers Work

To understand the workings of a stone burier, it is essential to examine its structure. This machine consists of several key components, each serving a specific purpose to achieve its unique results.

The main components of a stone burier include:

• Frame with Double/Triple Skin: The frame serves as the supporting structure of the machine. Since stone buriers are designed for stony fields, the chassis features a double skin for enhanced resistance to shocks caused by stones and other debris. The front part of the frame, which experiences the most impact, has a triple skin. The entire frame is designed to improve soil flow.
  
  
• Tilling Rotor: Located at the lower part of the chassis, the tilling rotor is the moving component responsible for soil tillage. It rotates in the opposite direction to the tractor's forward movement, lifting and moving the soil towards the back of the machine. The rotor is fitted with specially shaped spade blades, which have a squared profile. Unlike the smooth, round blades found on other machinery, these spade blades break up the soil without cutting or compacting it excessively.
  
  
• Rear Selector Rake: Behind the tilling rotor is the selector rake, which functions like a filter for the soil. Fine soil particles pass through the rake and form the seedbed, while larger clods, stones, and residues are blocked and fall back down. This combination of the tilling rotor and selector rake creates soil stratification, with stones and residues buried deep below and finer soil brought to the surface.
  
  
• Levelling Blade: Typically placed before the rear support roller, the levelling blade serves as an additional barrier for the fine soil collected by the selector rake. It helps create a reserve of fine soil to level out any slopes caused by the removal and burial of stones and clods. The levelling blade completes the burying and soil preparation process, leaving the field ready for subsequent tasks such as creating raised beds or flat work.
  
  

Advantages of Stone Buriers

Stone buriers offer several significant advantages. They can perform multiple tasks in a single pass, including soil tillage, burying stones and residues, reducing clod size, and levelling the field. The combination of different accessories further enhances the machine's capabilities, allowing it to perform additional tasks such as creating raised beds, installing irrigation pipes, and laying plastic film.

One of the most notable benefits of stone buriers is the significant reduction in time required for soil preparation. Compared to other machines, stone buriers provide superior soil refinement. For example, rotary tillers, which have tilling rotors that rotate in the same direction as the tractor and use standard "C" shaped blades, tend to compact the soil and create a hard pan layer. This layer can lead to water stagnation, hinder root growth, and obstruct crop development. Stone buriers, however, avoid this issue by preventing the formation of a hard pan layer, allowing roots to grow deeper and more extensively. Additionally, the soil preparation performed by stone buriers facilitates better water drainage and prevents water stagnation.

Conclusion