HARVESTING

Intro
• The operation of cutting, picking, plucking digging or any combination
of these for removing the whole crop or edible part of the crop from
either under the ground or above the ground is called harvesting.
• Mechanical actions associate with harvesting are as follows:
• Slicing action with a sharp tool.
• Tearing action with a rough serrated edge
• Scissoring action.
• High velocity impact with sharp or dull edge tool.
• According To Power Source Used Harvesting Tools Can Be Classifies
As
• (1) Manually operated tools (ii) Animal drawn implements (iii) Power
driven machines
Sickle

Sickle is a simple manually operated harvesting tool. It is used for

harvesting crops like paddy, ragi, sorghum etc. It essentially consists of
a curved metallic blade and a wooden handle Sickles are classified
into two classes: (i) Plain and (ii) Serrated depending on the nature of
the blade edge. In plain sickle the blade edge is smooth and sharp. In
serrated sickle the blade edge is with sharp serrated teeth. The plain
or serrated edge in the inner side of the blade is used for cutting the
crop and hence called cutting edge. The forged end of the blade used
for fixing the handle is called tang. Harvesting by sickle is a very slow
and labour consuming device
• Mower
• Mower is a machine to cut herbage crops and leave them in a swath.
Animal drawn and tractor operated mowers are available
• According to the cutting tool mowers are classified in to the following
types such as: (i) Cylinder mower (ii) Reciprocating mower (iii)
Horizontal rotary mower (iv) Gang mower and (v) Flail mower.
Terms
• Conventional Mower
• The conventional mower mainly consists of: (i) A metallic frame (ii) Power transmitting unit and (iii)
Cutting bar
Frame
• The frame provides space for fitting gears, clutch, bearings, flywheel etc required for the operation of
the harvester. A lever is used for lifting the cutting bar during road travel. . A flywheel is used to store
energy from the engine to supply steady energy to the cutting mechanism for uniform cutting.
Power transmitting unit
• It transmits the power from the power source either from the ground wheel in animal drawn
mowers and from PTO for tractor drawn mowers to the cutting tool.
• In bullock drawn mowers, the power transmitting unit consists of transport wheels, axle, gears,
crank wheel, crankshaft and pitman. The transport wheel gives power to the axle from where the
power is transmitted to crank wheel through the gears. From crank wheel the drive is transmitted to
pitman through connecting rod. Crank wheel rotates in circular motion and pitman makes reciprocating
motion. Connecting rod converts rotary motion in to reciprocating motion. Knife is connected to
pitman hence the knife reciprocates and performs the cutting job. There is a ball and socket
arrangement to connect the knife with the pitman. The operator controls the driving unit with the help
of a dog clutch.
• In tractor drawn semi-mounted or mounted type mowers the cutter bar is operated by P.T.O.
shaft of the tractor. A carden shaft transmits drive from PTO to the V pulley of the harvester. From V
pulley, drive reaches the knife through gears, crank wheel, connecting rod and pitman. The knife
reciprocates and cuts the crop. The cutting mechanism is driven independent of the forward motion of
the tractor
• Cutter bar
• It is an assembly of several parts comprising of a knife, fingers,
wearing plates, ledger plates, guides and shoes (figure 12.2). The
knife cuts the grass or grain crop by its reciprocating action`. It is a
metallic rectangular bar, on which triangular sections are mounted.
The knife sections make reciprocating motion inside the fingers and
cuts the plants. There are knife guides with clips to keep the knife
sections very closely on the ledger plates for effective cutting action.
The knife stops at the centre of the knife guard (finger) on each stroke
which indicates good registration.
• Shoe - A shoe is always provided on each end of the cutter bar to regulate the height of cut and to provide
easy and smooth sliding of the cutter bar on the land.
• Ledger plate - It is a hardened metal inserted in a guard (finger) over which knife sections move to give a
scissor like cutting action.
• Wearing plate - It is a hardened steel plate attached to the finger bar to form a bearing surface for the back
of the knife.
• Knife - It is the reciprocating part of the cutter bar, comprising of knife head, knife back and knife sections.
• Knife section - It is a steel plate of triangular shape with two cutting edges.
• Knife head - It is the portion of the knife which is connected to the pitman.
• Knife back - It is the strip of steel to which knife sections are riveted and the knife head is attached.
• Grass board -Grass board is provided at the outer end of the mower which causes the cut plants to fall
towards the cut material.
• Pitman - Pitman is the link between the knife and crank wheel of the mower. It transmits motion to a knife.
Wooden pitman is commonly used for the mower which acts as safety device. It breaks and protects the
cutter bar from damage whenever the knife is locked by some obstacle or choked by the crop.
• Connecting rod - It is placed between pitman and crank wheel. It converts rotary motion of crank wheel in to
reciprocating motion of the knife.
• Breaking of knives - Breaking of knives is a common trouble in operation of a mower. It is caused due to play
in bearings and worn out knife head holders. Non-alignment is an important cause for breaking the knife
because when the mower is out of alignment, it works on a certain angle which is always harmful.
• Alignment of mower
• Under working condition, the standing crops exert pressure on the cutter bar tending to
push it backward. In correct operating position, the crankpin, knife head and the outer
end of the knife should be in a straight line. This line should be at right angle to the
direction of travel of the mower. For achieving this object, the cutter bar is set at about
88° to the direction of motion i.e. inward lead of 2° is given to it in order to overcome the
back pushing action of the crops. When the cutter bar is properly aligned, the knife and
the pitman run in a straight line. This gives better cutting of the knife in the field.
Generally 2 cm lead per metre length of cutter bar is recommended.
• Registration of mower
• A mower knife is said to be in proper registration when the knife section stops in the
centre of its guard ( fingers ) on every stroke i.e. the centre of the knife section is at the
centre line of the guard, when it is in operating condition (figure 12.3). Adjustment is
commonly made by moving the entire cutter bar in or out with respect to the pitman. If
mower is not well registered, there is unbalanced load, uneven cutting and excessive
clogging of crops on the knife.
• Self Propelled Reaper
• It is suitable for harvesting non lodging varieties of paddy crop. The machine
consists of an engine, gearbox, ground wheels, handle, and cutter bar assembly,
star wheels and gathering header assembly. The power is taken from the engine
pulley to the harvester main shaft through compound idlers. The crop is manually
harvested along the four sides of the field for a width of 0.5m and cleared from
the field for providing space to the machine. At one comer an area of 2.0 x 1.5m
is manually harvested to place the machine initially in the field. Since the
harvested crop is discharged at the right side of the reaper the machine has to be
turned always to the left side. During forward motion of the harvester, crop
enters in the cutter bar mechanism and gets sheared and the harvested crop is
conveyed to right side of the machine by the conveyor belt . The harvested crop is
windrowed in the field, collected manually and transported to threshing yard.
The width of operation is 1.0 metre. The coverage is 1.5 ha/day (figure 12.4).
What is threshing?
• It is process of separation of grains from the
earheads/ removing of kernel from pods etc.
• It depends on many bio-physical characteristics of grains in
earheads
• Among the primary characteristics which determine the
quality & quantity of mechanical force required for threshing
are:
• Type of panicle
• Variety
• Bond strength of panicle
• Moisture content of grain
• Uniformity of maturity of grain in the earhead.
Threshing mechanism
• Forces used for threshing
• Impact force
• Friction force
• Squeezing force to break the pods
• Combination of two or more of the above forces
• Other means of threshing like centrifugal force
• F = 1.22 W R N
• F = threshing force
• W = weight of the material
• R = radius of rotation
• N = rev. /second of the
• Non – impulsive force, sudden acceleration
• The above forces are applied by different means using
different threshing elements
 Threshing mechanism
• In hold on type thresher only impact force is used to
comb the grain
• In feed in type thresher both impact and friction force is
used
• Force and power required:
• Threshing force = F = m’ * V/ (1 –μ)
• Power, HP= P= mv2/ (1 – μ) *75
• Angular velocity=ω= √ [P (1 – μ)/mR2] * 8.67
Types of thresher
• According to power
• Manual
• Mechanical
• According to Type of crop
• Single crop
• Multi-crop
• According to functional components
• Hold on type
• Feed in type
• Drummy type
• Regular type
• Axial flow type
• According to threshing cylinder
• Syndicator type
• Hammer mill or Beater type
• Spike tooth type
• Raspbar type
• Wire loop type
Manual threshing

• Capacity: approximately 15
person days/ha
• Threshing by impact
• High shattering losses
• Pre-drying might be needed
 Pedal thresher
• Capacity:40 kg/h (2 persons)
• Principle
• Wire loop threshing drum
• Mainly combing the grains off the
straw, some threshing by impact
• Advantages
• Maintains the straw
• Disadvantage
• Needs winnowing after threshing

Wire loop threshing drum

 Axial-flow thresher
• Capacity: 0.3-3t/h
• Threshing through impact
and friction
• Large range of sizes
available
• With or without cleaner
• Advantages
• Can thresh wet crop

Peg tooth
Produced in 9 different countries threshing
used by several 100,000 rice drum
farmers across Asia Axial flow principle
 Pedal operated thresher
Capacity: 50 kg/h
Cost: Rs 3400/-

Power operated thresher

Capacity:1.8 q/h
Cost: Rs 14,520/-
IRRI axial flow thresher
(DRUM)
Different parts of a thresher and their functions
• A mechanical thresher consists of the following
parts:
• Feeding device (chute/tray/hopper/conveyor)
• Threshing cylinder (spikes/rasp-bars/wire-
loops/hammer mill type/ syndicator type)
• Concave (woven-wire mesh/punched sheet/welded
square bars)
• Blower/aspirator
• Sieve-shaker/straw-walker.
• Power transmission unit
Types of threshing cylinder
• Syndicator type
• Hammer mill or Beater type
• Angle bar type
• Spike tooth type
• Raspbar type
• Wire loop type
 angle-bar cylinder

The angle-bar cylinder is made of helical rubber-coated

angle irons in place of rasp bars. The concave is also
rubber-coated. The threshing action is primarily that of
flailing that results in a gentler threshing action. The
angle-bar design is commonly used for crops such as
clover and alfalfa seed.
• Axial flow type • Wire loop type
• Used for paddy • Used for paddy
• Long straw (no chopping of straw) • Full length straw
• Wire mesh type lower concave • Wire dia.: 5-6 mm
• Upper concave with louvers • Height: 5 - 6 cm
• Power requirement: 3-4 kW/t • Power requirement: 5-6 kW/t
• COMBINE
• It is a machine, which performs the functions of a reaper, thresher
and winnower.
• Functions
• Cutting the standing crops
• Feeding the cut crops with the threshing unit
• Threshing the crops
• Cleaning the grains freeing it from straw
• Collecting the grains in container
COMBINE HARVESTER
 Combine harvesting
• Features
• combines cutting,
threshing, cleaning and
hauling
• tracks for mobility in wet
fields
• Advantages SELF PROPELLED COMBINE
HARVESTER
• high capacity
• low total harvest losses Tractor operated combine harvester
• Disadvantages Capacity: 1 acre/h
• Requires relatively large Cost: Rs 6 lakhs
field sizes
• Problem in terraced fields
PARTS OF A COMBINE
• HEADER UNIT
• FEEDING UNIT
• THRESHING & SEPERATION UNIT
• CLEANING UNIT

Tractor operated
combine harvester
Capacity: 1 acre/h
Cost: Rs 6 lakhs
PARTS OF COMBINE HARVESTER
Combine harvester

Conveying augurs
CROP TIGER COMBINE
COMBINE HARVESTER
HEADER UNIT
• REEL
• CUTTERBAR
• CROSS AUGUR
• HEADER PLATFORM
 REEL
• Prevents shattering of crop
• Moves the crop uniformly
towards the cutterbar
• Holds the crop until it is cut by
the cutterbar
• Reel must be square, level, at
proper height and run at right
speed
• Types of reel
• Bat type
• 4-6 wooden slats
• Not suitable for lodged
crop
• Slapping action causes
more shattering if the
crop is over ripe
• Tyne type (Pick up type)
• Spring tyne fitted
• Angle can be changed
• Effective for both standing
and lodged crop
CUTTERBAR
• Cutterbar • Fixed finger/knife clip on
• Top serrated knife the cutterbar, through
which the knives run
• Speed: 500 – 1600 rpm of the
crank • Knife blades riveted on a
knife strip
• Speed: 1.2 to 1.5 m/s
• Drive
• Height of cut: 5 – 100 cm
• Bell crank lever
(28cm -69 cm for crop tiger
combine) • Wobble mechanism
• Stroke length : 76.2 mm

Bell crank
mechanism
Knife adjustment
• Knife stroke length
• Blade up and down adjustment
• Pressure plate on the knife strip
• Shims under pressure plate can be placed and moved
• Blade strip moves up and down
• Blade back play
• One thrust plate (wear plate) is fixed at the back of the
knife strip and held with pressure plate bolt
• Touches the back of the knife
• Alignment of fingers
• All the fingers (knife clips) must be placed in one line
 AUGER
• Made of steel metal
• Smooth in the centre
• Screw thread
• One thread left handed , other right handed
• At the centre retraceable fingers (pongs) are provided
• Fingers come out of the housing and moves the crop
towards the conveyor
• Height of the fingers can be adjusted
• Wheat & paddy : 30 mm
• Gross seed: 15 – 20 mm from the pan of the cutterbar
 Types of threshing cylinders

• Spike tooth
• Rasp bar
• Angle bar type
• Wire loop type
 Principles and types of threshing mechanism
•Forces :
•Impact
•Impact and friction
• Type of threshing elements
•Cross flow rasp bar cylinder (48-60 cm diameter) with open grates
•Axial flow rap bar cylinder
• Similar to cross flow raspbar but numbers: 2 pair
• Material moves several times across the helical path
• Easy to adjust and maintain
• Can thresh most crop (wheat, maize, rice also)
• Corrugated surface
• Direction of corrugation of one bar is opposite to the other
• Threshing is done by the front edge of the rasp bar
• The serrated face aids in separation
•Spike tooth cylinder
• If concave has teeth, more combing action
• No of teeth: 2,4,6 in each slat
• More positive feeding
• Requires more power than rasp bar
CHAFF CUTTER

Pradosh Manoranjan 63
Types of chaff cutter
• Manually operated
• Flywheel type
• Power operated
• Flywheel type
• Cylinder type

Pradosh Manoranjan 64
MANUAL CHAFF CUTTER

Pradosh Manoranjan 65
POWER OPERATED CHAFF CUTTER

Pradosh Manoranjan 66
COMPONENTS OF MANUAL CHAFF CUTTER
•Feeding trough
•Feed rollers
•Fly wheel
•Cutting blade
•Shear plate
•Handle

Pradosh Manoranjan 67
Pradosh Manoranjan 68
Feed mechanism
•Two feed rollers
• Upper roller
• Has transverse ribs, provides max. holding of the
straw or green fodder
• Lower roller
• Smooth/with ribs
•Provides positive feeding
•Rollers have small diameters
•Rollers close to the cutting plane so that long pieces
not pulled by the knife
•Peripheral speed of the rollers and conveyor or apron
should be same for positive feeding
•Upper feed roller is spring loaded to accommodate
varying layer of material

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Pradosh Manoranjan 70
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