Understanding passive inclusion ripping.

Key points

• Inclusion ripping technology is designed to drop topsoil deep into the rip-line during the process of subsoil tillage.
• Adding inclusion plates to a deep ripper significantly increases the draught requirement, but this may be minimised by using improved ripper point and plate combinations.
• The depth of the plate bottom edge has the greatest impact on the draught force.
• The plate design and settings, ripping speed, timing of operation, soil type and moisture are key factors driving the inclusion performance.
• High ripping speed significantly reduces the amount of topsoil inclusion, but this can be mitigated by increasing the length of the plate.
• The operating depth of the top edge of the plate relative to the soil surface determines the thickness of topsoil layer being included, but the impact of
  soil upheaval while ripping needs to be factored in.
• Computer simulation is a powerful tool to help optimise solutions for passive inclusion and ultimately for more selective active inclusion systems.