Aiming at the problems of large cutting resistance and high energy consumption when working on rotating monomer of traditional cultivators, the key component of rotary cultivator was designed according to the method of vibration reducing resistance in agricultural machinery design. The motion equation of rotating monomer was established, and the analysis of reducing resistance was done. The analysis can provide theoretical basis for the design of the rotating monomer. For the study on performance of rotary cultivator, the quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combined design was used for the experiment. The forward speed, spring stiffness coefficient and rotational speed of knife were taken as the influential factors, the rate of broken soil and the power consumption were taken as test indexs, and the test was conducted in the indoor soil bin. Through the variance analysis and response surface analysis by DesignExpert software, the mathematical model between influencing factors and response indexes was obtained, and the mathematical model was optimized and validated. The field test showed that when rotational speed of knife was 247~268r/min, forward speed was 0.5~1.0m/s and the spring stiffness coefficient was 11.39~15.16N/mm, the rate of broken soil was 91.3%~92.9%, the power consumption was 1.55~1.90kW, the result of contrast test showed that the vibration can effectively reduce the operating power consumption of the rotating monomer, compared with the traditional device, the results showed that the vibration rotating monomer can reduce the power consumption by 32%. To the optimal level combination of field experiment, the rate of broken soil was 92.8%, and the power consumption was 1.95kW. The results showed that the vibrating rotary monomer can meet the requirements of operation technology of cultivator. The research result provided important theoretical and technical reference for the improvement and optimization of the key components of rotary cultivator.