A laboratory study was conducted to determine the influence of water-soil ratio
on the ease of puddling air-dried aggregates. Soil puddling was carried out
using a rotary stirrer simulating the ratio)' motion of a rotary cultivator
commonly used in wetland preparation. The stirrer was driven by an electric
motor at a speed of 2000 rev/min. Four water-soil ratios were tested at three
different stirring times. The results obtained showed that the fastest dispersion
of particles resulting in a minimum wet bulk density of 1.23 Mg/m3
, was
achieved at a water-soil ratio of 1.2. Increasing the water-soil ratio above this
value did not change the wet bulk density value for all stirring times. Increasing
the water-soil ratio above 1.0 did not increase the percentage of aggregate
breakdown significantly for aggregates below 0.5 mm diameter. The effect of
stirring time on the percentage of aggregate breakdown for aggregates below
0.5 mm diameter, however, was significant at all water-soil ratios when the input
energy was 0.084 and 0.168 watt-hours
