Designing and Manufacturing Simple Rice Thresher with Trailer Coupling System

Abstract

Rice has been the main commodity for Indonesia because it is the staple food for most of its population. Therefore, the government must guarantee its availability throughout the year. However, the rice supply still mostly relies on local farmer’s production with planting frequency only 2 to 3 times per year. Separating grains from rice stems generally still uses the traditional methods, which include from pounding rice in a particular container that resembles a raft, to finally trampling to release the seeds. Generally, rice threshing machine has been widely adopted as substitution for traditional methods to minimize the post-harvest losses. However, the local farmers find new challenge when transferring the rice thresher to the harvest location. The four-wheeled vehicles are unable to access the small rice-fields path. Thus, it must be lifted by 4 to 6 man using wood or bamboo. This study aims to design and to manufacture simple rice thresher that will easily access the rice-fields path, using 100cc used motorcycle with a maximum power of 7.3 PS (5.5 kilowatt) as the main driver, which can be produced by local craftsmen and accessed by all small farmers. This study uses an experimental method, from designing the threshing components to making the prototypes. The result is the rice threshing with threshing drums in diameter of 220mm and 800mm in length. The overall size of the machine is 200 cm in length, 100 cm in width, and 130 cm in height.