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Design and Construction of a Low-cost Manually Operated Paddy Harvester

Sutlir Kumar Sorker
Graduate student
Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

A. T. M. Ziauddin
Professor
Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Bangladesh

Md. Daulat Hussain
Professor
Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A manually operated paddy harvester was designed and fabricated in the workshop of the Department of Farm Power and Machinery and was tested in the paddy field of Bangladesh Agricultural University farm. The average cutting efficiency and the effective field capacity were 96.30 per cent and 0.079 ha./hr, respectively. The rpm of the starwheel was 120 at no-load condition of the machine that provided the cutterbar reciprocating motion of 720 stroke/min and a linear speed of 46 m/min. The cost of using the harvester was more economic than that of traditional manual harvesting of paddy.

Keywords: Design and Construction, Low-cost Manually Operated, Paddy harvester

Location: Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-00-0000

End Date: 00-00-0000

Program Area: Postharvest and Agro-processing

Commodity: Rice

Objectives:

1. To design and construct a low-cost manually operated paddy harvester and

2). To test and evaluate the performance of the harvester.

Methodology:

The literature search indicated that for reciprocating type of cutterbar, the maximum average power requirement was 63.6 watts to cut 18 stalks of wheat and the maximum average pull required to cut 18 stalks was 106.6 N. The maximum average power requirement of the machine (63.6 watts) is less than the power produced by a man during continuous work (74.6 watts). The row to row and hill to hill spacing of paddy were 20 cm and 15 cm, respectively. According to DAE (1992), row to row and hill to hill spacing of paddy are 25 cm and l5 cm, respectively. The length of the cutterbar, L = R x m, where. R: number of rows to be cut, m : average row to row spacing. An additional weight attachment to the flywheel can produce additional mass moment of inertia in the flywheel that is transmitted to the cutter bar. This moment of inertia is needed to increase the performance of the cutter bar. On the basis of power balance, it could be written as: Power consumed or provided by the flywheel mass + power consumed or provided by extra mass of the flywheel = input manual power. Starwheel and link mechanisms were selected for transmission of power from pedal to the cutterbar. This system was selected for direct power transmission. Starwheel was also acting as a motion converter. It converts vertical motion of flywheel to the horizontal reciprocating motion of the cutterbar. The harvester was tested in a paddy field of BAU farm at Mymensingh. An area of 2m X 0.45m was considered to conduct the experiment. The cutting efficiency of the harvester was determined as the ratio of the total number of plant cut to the total number of plant present before cutting operation in the plot. Cutting Eff.= (Total no. of plant cut) / (total no. of plant present before cutting operation) x 100. The effective field capacity of the device was calculated by the following formula: E.F.C. : SWE /IO; where. E.F.C. : effective field capacity, ha/hr, S : forward speed. km/hr, W: width of cut, m; E: field efficiency. %,

Source of Information: Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh; Agricultural Engineering Division, Vol.25/AE, No. 1. Dece. 1998

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The average cutting efficiency and the effective field capacity were 96.30 per cent and 0.079 ha./hr, respectively. The rpm of the starwheel was 120 at no-load condition of the machine that provided the cutterbar reciprocating motion of 720 stroke/min and a linear speed of 46 m/min. The cost of using the harvester was more economic than that of traditional manual harvesting of paddy. A system of gathering of cut plants was introduced at the front side of the harvester which was powered from the land wheel by a cross belt but the performance of the device was not tested in the paddy field because of time limitation.

Knowledge Management: Journal