Structure and sowing principles of rice rope direct seeding machine are introduced. In order to test the machine’s working performance, such as compacting effect, sowing depth, influence of sowing device to rice rope, etc., field experiments were conducted. It is concluded that mean slip ratio of compacting wheel 1 is 4.44%, wheel 2 is 5.58%, wheel 3 is 7.81%, and wheel 4 is 6.96%; mean depth of planting is 29.72 mm, and mean variability coefficient of planting depth is 6.39%. Maximum variability coefficient of planting depth is 8.40%. Rice rope’s snapping is closely related with the machine’s speed and guide thread wheel by sowing device orthogonal experiments. Test results show that the machine has a rational design, safe work and meets to the requirements of planting. This study has laid the foundation for further studying the project. Structure and sowing principles of rice rope direct seeding machine are introduced. In order to test the machine’s working performance, such as compacting effect, sowing depth, influence of sowing device to rice rope, etc., field experiments were conducted. It is following that mean slip ratio of compacting wheel 1 is 4.44%, wheel 2 is 5.58%, wheel 3 is 7.81% and wheel 4 is 6.96%; mean depth of planting is 29.72 mm, and mean variability coefficient of planting depth is 6.39%. Maximum variability coefficient of planting depth is 8.40%. Rice rope’s snapping is closely related with the machine’s speed and guide thread wheel by sowing device orthogonal experiments. Test results show that the machine has a rational design, safe work and meets the requirements of planting. This study has laid the foundation for further studying the project.