To avoid the issues of seeds lying atop straw, where the seeds cannot germinate, during no-till maize seeding, a seed furrow cleaning device is proposed. The device uses rotating spring teeth and a curved sliding shovel to clear the straw from the seed furrow to the outside. The critical components of the side throwing mechanism, rotary disc and spring teeth design are analyzed, and the value range of the installation inclination angle, rotating speed and bending angle of spring teeth are determined. The force on the straw at the moment of starting to touch and throw it is analyzed theoretically in the three installation directions of forward inclination, radial and backward inclination on the rotary disc, and the backward inclination of the spring teeth is determined. A simulation model of the seed furrow cleaning device is established by using the discrete element method simulation software; the forwarding speed, rotating speed, installation inclination angle, and bending angle of spring teeth are used as influencing factors to carry out single-factor experiments. The influence characteristics of different parameters on seed ditch cleaning effect are analyzed from the aspects of straw cleaning quantity and soil disturbance. A field validation experiment is carried out, and the results show that when rotating speed is 180 r/min, installation inclination angle of spring teeth is 40°, and bending angle is 30°, the straw cleaning rate is 82.26%. The research could provide references to develop the no-till seeder for maize seeding.

Field surface fluctuations and crop residues can induce significant random vibrations of no-tillage planters, which may negatively affect seed implantation stability and crop yield. At present, it is difficult to understand the extent to which the working components of a no-tillage planter affect its vibration, and how to reduce the influence of vibration on the quality of the no-tillage seeding is a critical problem. The main factors affecting the vibration of no-tillage planters were studied by tractor engine vibration source impact analysis experiments, no-tillage planter structural vibration source experiments, and light and heavy no-tillage configuration vibration source analysis experiments. The results show that the effects of the ground wheels, the fertilizing and stubble breaking and cleaning devices, the packer wheels, and the power output shaft gradually diminish. The resonant frequencies of the tractor–no-tillage planter system were 68.36 Hz and 67.38 Hz. Furthermore, this study provided a relative assessment of the correlation between planter downforce and its vibration intensity. To sum up, the multi-source vibration impact analysis method proposed an effective method for studying the contribution of individual components to the overall vibration behavior of no-tillage planters. It provides a theoretical basis for the optimization design of the vibration damping system.

In response to the issues of high cost, limited detection accuracy, and significant measurement errors inherent in conventional manual techniques used to measure straw cover weight under the conservation tillage method, a dedicated straw cover weight detection machine was developed in the current study. This machine included a critical straw suction device that utilizes negative pressure to collect straw within a defined area. The efficiency of straw collection is affected by suction chamber structural parameters and transport pressure. With crushed corn straw as the research subject, the theoretical calculation of straw suspension velocity was used to determine the wind duct diameter, perform the initial design of the suction chamber structure, and select the appropriate fan. After conducting preliminary experiments, single-factor optimization tests, and orthogonal rotation experiments, we analyzed the flow field distribution patterns and identified the critical parameters for the straw cover weight suction unit. We found that the fan should operate at a speed of 2900 r/min, the diameter of the straw outlet should be 200 mm, the vertical height of the suction chamber should be 536 mm, and the bottom diameter of the suction chamber should be 800 mm. The optimization results were validated through simulation tests and bench tests, yielding an average near-ground airflow velocity of v_j = 9.03 m/s and an average outlet airflow velocity of v_o = 34.27 m/s, meeting the basic requirements of the suction unit. This study could provide a new approach and technical support for the automated detection of straw cover weight in conservation tillage areas.