In order to direct-seeding of rice for wet-land A hand operated (drum seeder) was manufactured at Iranian agricultural Engineering Research Institute. This machine was made of light weight tubing and sheet metal and there was not any measuring device.This machine had 4 hoppers and 2 rows of drilled holes on drums (hoppers). Drums was driven by cage wheel and seeds was dropping to puddle soil through holes. The machine handled to Mazandaran province. Transplanted method (T1), direct seeding in wet land by broadcasting (T2) and direct seeding by using drum-seeder (T3) were compared in A Compele rondomized Design whit 3 replications. Pulling force, Field efficiency, Effective Field Capacity, uniformity factor, yield and yield components were measured. Results showed that grain yield was significantly (p<05) affected by treatments and the maximum yield was obtained from T1.However the yield of grain in T3 (using drum seeder) was higher than T2. Althogh statistical differences between them were not significant. Due to lake of grain tube and covering device The sowing uniformity factor was high. The required man-h per hectare and time of sowing per one hectare was redused to 1/7 and 1/20 respectively.

Puddling is the most common method of land preparation of paddy fields in lowland rice cultivation. Puddling affects the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil and these changes are effective on rice growth. The soil that is more susceptible to changes in structure is easier to puddle. This research was aimed to investigate the effects of different puddling levels on moisture content and bulk density of three dominant soil textures of paddy fields in Guilan province. The experiment was designed as factorial with completely randomized blocks having three replications. Undisturbed soil samples were taken from 3 different soils (silty clay, clay loam and loam) with cylindrical samplers with diameter and height of 50 cm. The soil samples were puddled by a laboratory apparatus. The puddling treatments were: P0 (no puddling), P1 (low puddling), P2 (medium puddling) and P3 (high puddling). Soil moisture content and bulk density of all soil samples was measured every 24 hrs for six days. Analysis of variance showed that puddling had significant effect (p<0.05) on soil moisture content and bulk density. The water content of the puddled layers decreased with an increase in settling time. During drying period, P0 dried faster than P1, P2 and P3. In P0 to P3 treatments of the loamy soil, the moisture content decreased about 22.6, 16.3, 14.8 and 9.6% after 144 hrs past puddling, respectively. The trend was similar for other two soils. Measurement of bulk density in 0-15 cm depth showed that P1 caused bulk density of silty clay and clay loam soils to decrease 23.8 and 22.8%, respectively; however, it caused the bulk density of loamy soil to increase 4.1%. Bulk density increased with time in all the three soils. Bulk density increased with depth and this increase was higher for lower puddling levels. It seems that higher puddling levels are more suitable for paddy fields preparation because they loose water more slowly. To determine what puddling level is appropriate for different soil textures, parameters such as water infiltration, water retention and amount of water used should be investigated.

Amount of fuel consumption and actual field capacity were measured by using of riding type and walking type rice transplanters in different times of puddlings. Statistical analysis was performed for a two-factor experiment with a completely randomized design. The two factors were transplanters and puddlings times, with two and three levels, respectively. The measurements were replicated 4 times. The six plots were selected and the plot length and width was 100 m and 3.6 m respectively. Four rows walking type and riding type rice transplanters were used. The hill distance adjusted on 16 cm. Transplanting speed were 1.9 km/h for walking type and 2.4 km/h for riding type. The puddlings were carried out by power tiller in one, three, and five times. The amount of fuel consumption (liter/hectare) was measured at beginning and end of transplanting operation. The results indicate that the rice transplanters (P<0.01) and puddlings (P<0.05) had a significant effects on the amount of fuel consumption. Also the factors of machines, number of puddlings and the interaction between them had a significant effects (P<0.01) on the actual field capacity. Based on the results, for increasing of field capacity and decreasing of total time, riding type transplanter is offered and also for decreasing of fuel consumption walking type tranplanter is offered.

This research was performed on the basis of a field experiment to evaluate the effects of paddling in machine slipping with three treatments and four replications. In order to determine proper transplanting, the variables such as planting depth, number of pigweeds in hill drop, row distance, hill drop distance, number of total lost hill drops and actual field capacity in one, two, and three times of paddling were measured. The seed of Belpanta variety of rice was for field tillage, the tiller (Kubota-KRA- 75) with 1.35m work width, 7.5 hp was used. The riding type transplanted machine (Yanmar-pr-400) had 4 rows with 30 cm distance between rows. Treatment means were compared by Duncan's multiple range test. The results indicated that the number of puddings increases slipping. There were no significant differences between five and three times of puddings but the difference between three and one times puddings was significant. One time of paddling was regarded the best conditions on the basis of transplanted performance but for weed burial three times of paddling was suggested. More than three times of pudding was not recommended because of technical and economical reasons.

The common method of puddling is using a conventional tiller which requires long time of soil operations.In this study, the effects of tillage equipment on moisture characteristic curve of a paddy soil were investigated. The treatments included tillage equipment (T1: conventional tiller, T2: rotary puddler, T3: cone puddler, T4: tractor mounted rotivator) and number of puddlings (P1: puddling once, P2: puddling twice, P3: three times’puddling and P4: four times’puddling). The results showed that at saturation point, tractor mounted rotivator presented the highest moisture content. At field capacity and permanent wilting point, the cone puddler showed the highest moisture value. The two newly made units held more moisture and saved water. In different tillage equipment, increasing the number of puddling reduced soil moisture. Available moisture in the soil without tillage (control) was less than in soils under rotary puddler and cone puddler.

The aim of this research was investigation of non-chemical control of weeds and prevention of rice yield reduction with appropriate land preparation such as puddling. A filed experiment was conducted in 2011 and 2012 growing seasons in Tonekabon’s rice research station (Chaparsar) in Mazandaran province. The experiment layout was a factorial experiment based on randomize complete block design (RCBD) with three factors including type of equipment (rastcawel and rotivator), time of puddling (10 and 20 days before transplanting) and number of puddling (one and two times) with three replicates. Results of combined variance analysis showed that effect of year on tiller speed, time of puddling and grain yield were statistically significant. Tiller speed was affected by kind of tool and second pudlling time. Effect of pudlling frequency on number of filled seed was significant. Number of weeds at 2 M-2 and grain yield was not affected under applied three factors. The maximum of tiller headway speed (2.27 m.s-1) was obtained with one time of puddling by rotivator. minimum time of puddling treatment (4.47 min/plot) was achieved using two time of puddling at in 20 days before transplanting. Mean of rice grain yield was 3689.4 kg/ha.

Engineering properties of soils besides the chemical and biological properties can be a tool for justifying the behavior of soil. In this study bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, soil penetration resistance and Shear strength were measured. Different levels of depth and puddling intensity and their interactions on the properties in randomized complete design with three replications in a factorial experiment was investigated. Results indicated puddling intensity decreased the soil hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, penetration resistance, shear strength and with increasing depth, bulk density, penetration resistance and shear strength increased. The changes in bulk density were 0. 68-1. 32. The highest and lowest hydraulic conductivity were reported 0. 3 and 8. 5 in treatment P0 depth 10 cm and treatment P2 depth 30 cm respectively. It can be said that puddling treatment P1 is more suitable than treatment P2 to keep moisture, reduce physical and mechanical damage, energy required to prepare the paddy fields.