ROTARY MOWER FOR TREATING NEAR-STEM STRIPS OF FRUIT PLANTATIONS ON TERRACES

Abstract

One of the problems faced by producers in the conditions of slope gardening is the lack of specialized equipment suitable for carrying out the necessary work related to the care of the trunk strips of fruit trees. The design features of the terraces impose restrictions on the operating conditions of agricultural aggregates, among them it is necessary to highlight the possibility of approaching the row line for processing plants from only one side. Most horticultural farms have mainly equipment designed to work in conditions of plain gardening, which is often unsuitable for the care of fruit plantations located on terraces. Research aimed at developing agricultural machinery for processing row spacing and trunk circles of fruit trees in one pass is relevant. (Research purpose) The research purpose is substantiating the main design parameters and operating mode of the mower for mowing vegetation from the space around the stem of the fruit tree without damaging the latter in one pass. (Materials and methods) Used the results of the functioning of technical means in the conditions of mountain gardening through logical analysis. We conducted theoretical studies using the well-known laws of mathematical analysis and theoretical mechanics. (Results and discussion) We examined the operation of the cutting machine of the mower in the process of mowing vegetation in the area of the trunk circle. (Conclusions) A prototype mower was manufactured, production tests of which (at a movement speed of 1.89 kilometers per hour, the number of rotors with cutting segments of 2 pieces, the length of the cutting segment of 42 millimeters, the rotation speed of the rotors of 2000 minutes minus the first degree) confirmed that it with a capacity of 0.36 hectares per hour provides mowing vegetation from the space around the stem of the fruit tree without damaging the latter in one pass. It was determined that due to the creation of a mulching layer, the soil condition is improved, terraces are protected from erosion processes and unit costs are reduced.