Abstract
Abstract The spring-tine harrow is gaining popularity for mechanical weeding. However, its weeding performance and mechanism have not been well understood. A spring-tine harrow was first tested in a controlled indoor soil bin at four different travel speeds (4, 6, 8, and 10 km h −1 ) with three different spring-loading settings (low, medium, and high). Then the harrow was tested in a wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) field at the same spring-loading settings at three different weeding timings (early, middle, and late) in 2019 and 2020. Soil cutting forces (draft and vertical), soil displacements (forward and lateral), soil working depth, weed control efficacy, weed density, and crop damage were measured. The results showed that the spring-loading setting had a more dominant effect on working depth and soil cutting forces than the speed. The soil displacements were more dependent on the speed compared with the spring-loading setting. Treatment effects on weeding performance indicators in the field were similar across years. Adjusting the spring-loading setting from low to high improved the weeding efficacy from 44.9% to 73.9% in 2019 and from 51.6% to 78.1% in 2020. Consequently, the final weed density was minimized at the high loading setting, with the reduction in 2020 being significant. The middle weeding timing caused the least crop damage, while reducing the final weed density by approximately one-third compared with the control (without mechanical weeding), which was the most desired outcome among the three timings tested.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
In the soil bin, the spring-loading setting had a more dominant effect on harrow working depth and soil cutting forces than travel speed did.
- Treatment
- spring-loading settinge0
- Outcome
- working depth and soil cutting forcese0
- Direction
- more dominant effecte0
- Comparator
- speede0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“the spring-loading setting had a more dominant effect on working depth and soil cutting forces than the speed”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil displacements depended more on travel speed than on the spring-loading setting.
- Treatment
- speede0
- Outcome
- soil displacementse0
- Direction
- more dependente0
- Comparator
- spring-loading settinge0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“The soil displacements were more dependent on the speed compared with the spring-loading setting”
Claim · model-written summary
In the 2020 wheat field trial, adjusting the spring-loading setting from low to high improved weeding efficacy from 51.6% to 78.1%.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume1 - Outcome
- weeding efficacye0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- from 51.6% to 78.1%e0
- Qualifier
- in 2020e0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“improved the weeding efficacy from 44.9% to 73.9% in 2019 and from 51.6% to 78.1% in 2020”
e1“wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Final weed density was minimized at the high spring-loading setting in the wheat field; the reduction was significant in 2020.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume1 - Treatment
- high loading settinge0
- Outcome
- final weed densitye0
- Direction
- minimizede0
- Qualifier
- reduction in 2020 being significante0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“the final weed density was minimized at the high loading setting, with the reduction in 2020 being significant”
e1“wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The middle weeding timing caused the least crop damage among the three timings tested in wheat.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume1 - Treatment
- middle weeding timinge0
- Outcome
- crop damagee0
- Direction
- leaste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The middle weeding timing caused the least crop damage”
e1“wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
The middle weeding timing reduced final weed density by approximately one-third compared with the unweeded control.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume1 - Treatment
- middle weeding timinge0
- Outcome
- final weed densitye0
- Direction
- reducinge0
- Value
- approximately one-thirde0
- Comparator
- control (without mechanical weeding)e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The middle weeding timing caused the least crop damage, while reducing the final weed density by approximately one-third compared with the control (without mechanical weeding)”
e1“wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)”
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