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Design and Development of a Power Tiller Mounted Sugarcane Harvester

S. M. l. Hossain
Assistant Agricultural Engineer
Agricultural Engineering Division, Bangladesh Sugarcane Research lnslitute, lshurdi-620, Pabna, Bangladesh

M. M. Hossain
Associate Professor
Department of Farm Power & Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh

M. D. Hussain
Professor
Department of Farm Power & Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh

M. Ahiduzzaman
Graduate student
Department of Farm Power & Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A low cost power tiller mounted sugarcane harvester was designed and developed in the Department of Farm power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The harvester was mounted at the front of the power tiller. This machine was suitable for cutting the sugarcane only . The harvested cane was gathered manually. The field capacity of the machine was 0.5 ha/day. The total fabricating cost of the machine was Tk. 3955. The cost of harvesting sugarcane was Tk. 1450 and Tk. 986 per ha for manual and mechanical harvesting, respectively.

Keywords: Sugarcane harvester, Power tiller, Cost, Field capacity

Location: Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Power Tiller

Objectives:

To develop a low cost power tiller mounted sugarcane harvester

Methodology:

The harvester was fabricated at the workshop of the Department of Farm Power and machinery' Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.The materials used for the fabrication of the machine are locally available. The following points were taken into the consideration during the design of harvester: 1. The harvester will be mounted at the front of the pourer tiller for easy operation. 2. The machine will cut one row of sugarcane in the field and Push cane in one side. 3. The machine will cut the cane at ground level to avoid the loss of cane with stubble. 4. Power transmission system from engine to machine should be easy. 5. The machine should have two supporting wheels for keeping the base cutter above ground. 6. Adequate safety precautions should be present. The main functional parts of the harvester are (1) Base cutter (rotary cutter), (2) Base cutter holding assembly, (3) Power transmission gear box, (4) Belt pulley, (5) Gear box supporting frame' (6) Guide bar and (7) Supporting rubber wheel. isometric view of power tiller mounted sugarcane. A circular cutter with a serrated cutting edge was used for the sugarcane cutting machine. This type of cutter was considered for the sugarcane harvester as it is cheap and easily available in the market. The base cutter holding assembly was made for fixing the base cutter at the end of the vertical shaft of the gear box. The base cutter was bolted between upper guide plate of 85 mm diameter and lower guide plate of 160 mm diameter to minimize the vibration of base cutter. The upper guide plate was bolted with the vertical shaft of the gear box. Engine power is transmitted to the horizontal shaft of the gear box assembly by a V-belt-pulley drive. From the horizontal shafi, power is transmitted to cutter through bevel gear management . To get velocity The ratio of engine and cutter rpm was chosen to be 2 : 7 in order to get high cutting speed of the base cutter. A V-belt of B-70 size was selected with the consideration of engine pulley dimension and power to be transmitted (Hossain, 1995). The gear box was fixed with the vertical bar using nut and bolt providing the facility to lower or raise the box with the range. The whole frame could be bolted with the chassis of the power tiller in front by 3 sets of nut and bolts. The guide bar was designed to guide the cut cane stalks from left to right during operation' The guide bar was made by 38 mm x 3 mm MS flat bar and welded with two 45 mm x 45 mm x 5 mm M' S' angle placed at the two sides of the base cutter and welded with two flat bars which were welded with gear box. Two rubber wheels of 195 mm diameter and 50 mm wide was used to support the whole harvesting machine. The harvesting machine was front mounted on a Dongfeng-12, 8.8 kW power tiller .The whole range of the accelerator lever was divided into 5 equal divisions. By changing the accelerator engine was varied. The engine speed, base cutter speed and fuel consumption were measured for each c,Combinations of gear 1 and 2 and accelerator position. Field test was carried out in a plot of 50 m x 26 m, Row spacing, plant spacing, cane diameter and height were-measured. Number of plant in each bunch was counted. Total time to harvest the plot was recorded. Effective field capacity was determined dividing the plot area by the time required to harvest the cane. Field efficiency, was determined dividing the effective field capacity by theoretical field capacity. Economic analysis was done for comparison of the cost of harvesting by manual and mechanical methods.

Source of Information: J.Agril. Mach. & Mech. 3 (1&2),1996:35. ISSN 1024-6290

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

This machine was suitable for cutting the sugarcane only . The harvested cane was gathered manually. The field capacity of the machine was 0.5 ha/day. The total fabricating cost of the machine was Tk. 3955. The cost of harvesting sugarcane was Tk. 1450 and Tk. 986 per ha for manual and mechanical harvesting , respectively.

Knowledge Management: Journal