Abstract
An experimental gantry for leaf vegetable production has been designed and built at AFRC Engineering and evaluated over two seasons. The objectives of the work are to develop and demonstrate practical gantry based systems of crop production. The machine has a 9 m wide working width between two hydraulically driven crawler track units. The upper surface of a 0·6 m deep space frame beam forms the working platform and the beam has a 0·9 m ground clearance. The gantry may be raised off its tracks by jacking down wheels at both ends, it then qualifies under the Road Traffic Regulations as a trailed agricultural appliance when towed on the road by a tractor. A pallet handling system for six pallets has been provided, and the gantry has the facility to carry and power conveyors for harvesting. Various standard or experimental implements may be mounted on a three-point linkage assembly which can be traversed along the beam. A commercial gantry based on the experimental machine has also been built. The cost of this was comparable with self-propelled wheel based field packhouses of similar load capacity. In its first season the farmer has demonstrated substantial advantages over the latter, largely due to reduced crop damage and improved vehicle flotation.
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