• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.31-41
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• 2016

This study was conducted to develop a handy earth auger for use in sloppy and rugged forest terrains in order to reduce labor cost which comprises a major part of the production costs in forest afforestation projects. The first prototype is developed consist of two parts, the soil-digging screw and the battery power source. The specifications of the first prototype screw are: length of 170mm, a top diameter of 60mm, bottom diameter of 47mm, 23° angle for each helix, and a 50mm awl-head tip. The use of a single line of screw was selected for reduced weight. In addition, a power source of rotary DC Motor(WD-6G2425, WONILL, Korea) with a maximum torque of 30kgf-cm, rotation of 20-30rpm, K6G30C decelerator with a reduction ratio of 30:1 which could be used with no load for 48 was operated. In consideration of its weight, a lithium battery was utilized in line with the goal of developing a lightweight auger. In order to evaluate the performance of the first prototype, test sites were selected as 6 areas. The rotational force was found to be highest in area A(Solid area), followed by areas F(Mounted slope 40° area) and E(Mounted slope 30° area). It was also observed that in general, the rotational force increased along with the increase in soil depth with the maximum rotational force recorded at 10cm.