PROJECT PROPOSAL

MINI LIVESTOCK CHOPPING MACHINE

P.By :- 1. YARED BELETE

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ACKNOWLEGEMENT

We would like first to give our sincere gratitude to the Almighty God for guiding us through this project.

We appreciate the AKPTC through the Department of Manufacturing Technology for the material
resources availed unto us throughout our project.

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ABSTRACT

Abstract: A straw chopper is a mechanical device used to uniformly chop fodder into small pieces to mix it together with
other grass and then feed it to livestock. The objective of this project was to design and develop an animal fodder
chopping machine to be utilized by dairy farmers within their purchase range. The drawing of these machine parts was
undertaken in AutoCAD software and the construction was performed in a local workshop. After development of this
machine, performance tests were carried out on a farm. The chopping machine tests were carried out with commonly
grown fodder (namely: straw, grass, and maize) in Bangladesh. The performance evaluation of the developed machine
was carried out in terms of the chopping efficiency, machine productivity, and energy consumption. The economic
analysis of the straw chopping machine was assessed by indicating the cost effectiveness to the poor farmers. Analysis
of the data in regard to chopping efficiency and machine productivity varied from 93 to 96% and from 192 to 600 kg⋅h–
1, respectively. The energy consumption during the chopping process ranged between 0.0025 and 0.01 kWh for the
different types of fodder. The break-even point of the fodder chopping machine was 3 793 kg of cut straw and
the payback period was within one year depending on the use.

Keywords: break-even; chopping efficiency; economic analysis; machine productivity; power consumption

With the consequence of agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia, manual and time-consuming work have turned to
machine work, especially domestic household and farm work, with the introduction of different machines, such as straw
cutting machines. Maize is one of the oldest cultivated crops and ranks as the most widely grown food grain crop. Maize
serves as a staple food for Ethiopia and about half of the world's population. The majority of maize comes from the
western part of Ethiopia and, at the same time, a huge amount of straw is generated from its harvesting. Normally,
people use the straw as the main food for the cattle and its other uses inclued fuel for cooking, an agricultural compost
fertilizer, roof covering for village houses, etc. Straw choppers have developed gradually from a very simple tool
to commercial standard machines that can be driven at various speeds so as to achieve various chaff sizes with respect
to the animal's preference . In order to make the task faster and comfortable for the users, the straw is tied in bundles
of about 80–100 mm in diameter, which is normally undertaken during the maize harvesting time.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A small-scale fodder chopping machine was designed for dairy farmers who have a home business in rural areas for milk
and meat production. The developed machine was fabricated in a local workshop and experiments were carried out on a
farm in the Thakurgaon district, Ethiopia. The activities for the research work included setting an estimated budget
to make the fodder chopping machine so that it remains within the purchase capabilities of the farmers. According to
the budget, different parts were designed, such as an electric motor for the power source, a V-belt drive, a cutting wheel,
a feed roller and cashing, a hopper and a supporting frame. After assembling the machine, performance tests on the
cutting efficiency, machine productivity, energy requirements were carried out and some economic analysis on the fixed
costs, variable costs and the break-even point were also performed. The whole method is described in the following step
by step processes.

Description of the major components of the fodder chopping machine

Supporting frame. The various parts of this machine are mounted on this frame. The complete frame is made up
of mild steel angle. Cutter wheel and cutter blade. It is a circular wheel made from cast iron that holds the cutting blade.
During operation, the cutter wheel rotates at a uniform speed and the attached blade cuts the fodder. Inlet hopper.This is
made from a cast iron plate and this is where the raw fodder is kept prior to chopping. Feed roller. The feed roller is a
device used to pull the fodder from the horizontal hopper and feed it to the cutting blades. The roller is driven by a
helical gear mechanism which is connected to the belt drive. V-belt drive. The V-belt drive is used to transmit the power
from the motor to the cutting wheel. The V-belt drive provides several advantages including that it requires no
lubrication, it is highly efficient, it has a low noise generation level, has a long service life, it is easy to install, and acts
as a "safety fuse" refusing to transmit power during overload. Electric motor power source. An electric motor is used
to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. To construct this machine, a 1.49 kW motor was purchased from a
local market.

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Assembled fodder chopping machine
The fabrication of the straw chopper machine was accomplished in a local workshop. A standard frame of (760 × 540
mm) was built by mild steel angle to rigidly support the whole assembly of the chopping machine. The diameter of the
cutting wheel is 650mm which is attached to a pulley (100 mm in diameter) of the motor through the V-belt. This
machine was designed with two simple feed roller shafts whose diameters were 120 mm, while the inlet side was
215 mm and the outlet side was 165 mm. Figure 1 illustrates the details of the assembly

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 1. Introduction

Farmers in Ethiopia are very interested to produce more milk products and beef to meet rising consumer demand. Small
and medium livestock farmers have between 10 and 30 cows or beef cattle. A major constraint to the expansion of dairy
holdings and beef production in Bangladesh is the scarcity of quality fodder, especially during the dry winter season
(Haque et al., 2008). Straw from paddy maize is the main source of fodder for livestock in Bangladesh, but has being
abundant and low quality (Haque et al., 2008). Napier grass, fodder maize, Para, jumbo grass, triticale and lathyrus are
all grown as higher quality fresh fodder supplements to rice straw. These fodders are normally fed to cattle in the form of
whole fresh or dried stems and leaves, and commonly 15 to 20 per cent of the material is refused and wasted. To reduce
wastage, some farmers are trying to chop straw and other fodders by hand for their cattle but this is slow, laborious and
costly. To overcome the problem, the Power Straw and Fodder Chopper (PSFC) was developed in 2006 and
commercialized. .

1.1 Background

Crop residue (CR) has become the used term for describing the fibrous by-products of cereals, sugarcane,
roots and tubers, pulses, oilseeds, oil plants, vegetable and fruits. The utilization of residues as feed has been
the subject of intense research and development. (OWEN E AND JAYASURIYA M. C.N 1989) All ruminants
depend on two major feed resources. These are CRs and agro-industrial by-products and they play significant
role in the nutrition of ruminant animals. (ONYEONAGU AND NJOKU 2010).

In Ethiopia, as elsewhere in Africa, malnutrition impairs livestock production. Ethiopia's overall livestock
productivity is below average. Although 12.7% of Africa's 524.61 million cattle, sheep and goats are found in
Ethiopia, the country produces only 7.3% and 5.1% of Africa's total meat and milk production respectively
(FAO, 1985). Grazing animals in Ethiopia subsist mainly on poor quality feedstuffs in the form of poor quality
pastures in arid and semi-arid areas and hays and/or crop residues in the arable areas. In a few of the animal
production centers where improved management is undertaken, the main supplements are energy and protein in
the form of agro-industrial by-products such as cereal brans, molasses and oilseed cakes. Scant attention is
given to the mineral content and nutritional balance of such diets. It has been widely established that available
energy and protein of a feed are of primary importance to any animal but optimal performance is only possible
if there is an adequate supply of minerals and vitamins (McDowell, 1985).

The quest to increase the agricultural production in all facets, have intensified crop production by way of
increasing cultivated areas thereby reducing the grazing areas. Livestock farmers especially in the sector of
goats, sheep and cattle are constantly faced with problem of feed shortage during the dry season. Hence
ruminants experience seasonal weight gain/loss during the wet/dry periods respectively during the year.
(PHILIP et al 2009).
The unavailability of sufficient pasture forage during the dry season in the tropical and sub – tropical regions is a major
problem in ruminant livestock production. During this period, grazing ruminants lose weight and in extreme cases some
deaths do occur. This is the plight of herdsmen in the semi-arid and arid zones of the country (IKHATUA 2000).
Utilization of stalks and stovers of cereal crops is sure to improve the availability of the product. Ruminants despite their
unique and highly efficient digestive system are not able to extract sufficient energy to grow and produce milk from low
quality or high lignified residues. Hence these must be properly processed or treated in some way to make them useful
for production. Historically, many fibrous crop by-products have been used as energy sources for ruminants in China.
The ancient processing and feeding includes particle reduction and reconstitution of roughages with wheat or millet
brain. Chopping stalks and soaking in water are popular practices for CR feeding throughout the Republic of China.
Although they do not always result in constituents improvements in animal performance, they defiantly result in reduced
diet wastage and diet selection. (QINGXIANG 2002).

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Also in some cases, availability of CR varies with season and region. In some regions there is a deficiency of CR only in
certain seasons, in others a perennial deficiency may prevail, while in some other region and in particular seasons they
are available in abundance but are largely wasted. These straws worth hundreds of birr are burnt in the fields in these
places after the grain harvest. Improvement in the management of CR enables efficient utilization of this potentially
useful feed resource. It is thus clear that the intention of this project to improve the residue utilization and by so doing
enhance meat and milk production.

In most tropical regions, the majority of bovine feeds available are the poor quality CRs and agro-industrial products.
Improper management of feed resources, especially those of the bulky and fibrous CR is a contributing factor to low
productivity of ruminant livestock in the tropical regions. CR management should include the use of processing
technologies for the manufacture of balanced complete straw-based feed for ruminants. (WALLI et al 2012).

2. Statement of the problem

In most part of rural areas of Ethiopia, CRs are not effectively employed either for livestock feeding, as construction
material or related use and thus wasted due to traditional methods of using it. Nowadays chopping the CRs and giving to
livestock is practiced in Ethiopia which is also liable to wastage as animals selectively feed on some of them only. So the
main aim of this project is to design and manufacture a small scale CR chopping and milling machine to effectively use
CRs and supply balanced live stock nutrients thereby increasing beef and dairy products.

3. General objective

The objective of this project was to design and develop an animal fodder chopping machine to be utilized by dairy
farmers within their purchase range.

4. Specific objective

 To improve animal food preparation with full analysis to reduce the cost with high efficiency,
 To improve easily operated by any labor with low maintenance cost, easily repairable.
 To manufacturing light weight and portable machine.
 To design a small scale CR chopping and milling machine.
 To fabricate a small scale CR chopping and milling machine.
 To select appropriate materials to manufacture the machine.
 To test the performance of the newly constructed machine

5.Significance of the study

The expected gains from a successful development of this equipment are enormous and justify financial
input and research work towards the realization of the project. These gains include:
1. Enhancement of agricultural production in the livestock industry.
2. Savings in the deaths and sufferings of many livestock during the usual dry-season feeds drought.
3. Enormous satisfaction to farmers and herdsmen as much manual labor occasioned by forced long
distances drift to places of greener pastures during drought is drastically reduced.

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 4. Successful project development shall ultimately ensure the proper management of CRs

project operational / Steps/Procedures

1.Prepare working drawing

2. Select the raw material

3. Transferring the dimension to the work piece

4. Welding and connecting the pattern accordingly

5. Assemble the part according to the drawing.

6. Apply finishing material

Users Manual

1. Check all components are ready and safe condition

2. Plug the socket into available electric

3. Close the door

4. Push start (green) button to start the machine

5. Feed through the hopper you want to chopped

6. Push close (red) button when you finish the work

7. Clean the blade and internal part of the machine

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6. Project Bill of Materials

List of raw materials needed

SN Item specification Unit Qty Unit cost Total cost

1 Angle Iron 40mm x40mmx6000mm t=3mm Pcs 1 1/2 950 1425
2 Sheet metal 1000mmx2000x2mm thickness Pcs 1/2 1200 600
3 Flat bar 30mmx6000mmx2.5mm thickness Pcs 1/6 300 50
4 Electrode E6013  2.5 pack 1/20 200 20
5 Cutting disk 180mmx24.5x2.5mm thickness Pcs 1 100 100
6 Grinding disk 180mmx24.5x6mm thickness Pcs 1 100 100
7 Bolt &nut M10 Pcs 8 8 64
9 Ant rust Mega litter 1/2 100 50
10 Paint Mega litter 1/2 100 50
10 Aluminum ingot 100 Pcs 1 200 200
11 Round Bar 30 x 6000mm pcs 1/12 5000 416
12 Brush 4” pcs 1 25 25
13 Bearing Solid pcs 2 350 700

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14 Single phase motor 2HP x 200 rpm pcs 1 1500 1500
15 Belt V-Belt pcs 1 150 150
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Contactor 220V 25A pcs 1 500 500
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Pushbutton Red pcs 1 100 100
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Pushbutton Green pcs 1 100 100
Total cost 6150

7. Tools / equipments and machineries needed:

No Item Description Unit QTY

1 Pcs 1
Scriber
2 Pcs 1
Try Square
3 Pcs 1
Hack saw
4 Pcs 1
Different types of file
5 Pcs 1
Measuring tools
6 Pcs 1
Wire brush
7 Pcs 1
Hand Grinding machine
8 Pcs 1
Pedestal drilling machine
9 Pcs 1
SMAW machine

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8. Detail drawing of MINI LIVESTOCK CHOPPING MACHINE

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SOLID BEARING

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 SINGLE PHASE MOTOR

Electrical System
Full-voltage Across the Line

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 Magnetic Starter /Direct Online/
I. Control Circuit
III. Power Circuit
L1
N
STOP START

M L1 L2 L3
C

O.L. R.

N.O.
3-phase

II. Indicating Circuit

L1 N M M M

N.C.
OLR OLR OLR
S

N.O.
T1 T2 T3
R
3-
Phase
O.L.R
Motor
.
O

9. Production costs
Direct Material = 6150 birr

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Labor Cost = Direct Material x 0.25 = 6150 x 0.25 = 1537.5 Birr

Over Head Cost = Direct Material x 0.05 = 6150 x 0.05 = 307.5 Birr

Production cost = Direct Material + Labor Cost + Over Head Cost

= 6150 + 1537.5 + 307.7 = 7995.2 Birr

Profit = Production cost x 0.25 = 7995.2 x 0.25 = 1998.75 Birr

Selling Price = Production cost + Profit = 7995.2 + 1998.75 = 9,993.95 Birr

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 10. Value chain

Value chain AS IS For Livestock Mini chopping Machine

Input Layout Cutting Retailing

Shaping Assembling Finishing Marketing

Design Measuring Sawing Hammering Arc Welding Grinding SMI

Agricultural
Material Scribing Grinding Bending Oxy-acetylene Sanding
Sector
selection

Snipping
Dividing

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 Value chain Gap For Livestock Mini chopping Machine

Quality After sale

Input Layout Cutting Shaping Assembling Finishing Marketing
Control service

Design Measuring Sawing InspecAnd Servicing

Hammering Arc Welding Grinding SMI
Test Drilling
Slicing

Grinding Oxy-
Material Sanding Training
acetylene Agricultural
selection Scribing Bending Sector Arwelding

Pressing
Snipping Painting
Online Repairing
Pressing SMI
Dividing Market Drilling
Slicing

Notching Mechanical
assembling Body Filing

Planning

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 Value chain TO BE For mini livestock chopping machine

Quality After sale

Input Layout Cutting Shaping Assembling Finishing Marketing
Control service

Design Measuring Sawing Inspect Servicing

Hammering Arc Welding Grinding SMI
And Test Drilling
Slicing

Grinding Oxy-
Material Sanding Training
acetylene Agricultural
selection Scribing Bending Sector

Pressing
Snipping Painting

Dividing Repairing

Notching Mechanical
assembling Body Filing

Planning

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