The Results of Field Tests of an Onion Set Harvesting Machine Equipped with a Shaker Arrangement Asymmetrical Bar Elevator

Abstract

Introduction. Machines for harvesting roots and onions do not provide qualitative indices of root heap separation that leads to violation of technical requirements during harvesting. New solutions are needed to increase the quality of root separation, increase the quality of separation and reduce damage. Materials and Methods. The article presents the design of the onion set harvesting machine. The machine is equipped with a bar elevator with asymmetrical arrangement of shakers. The technique and results of field research to determine the quality of set onion separation at the experimental rod elevator are described. Results. The results of production research of the onion set harvesting machine showed qualitative performance of the technological process of separating onion heap at optimal values of parameters: center distance between elliptical shaker and supporting roller 0.36-0.4 m at full separation of 97.0-97.2% and onion damage 1.65-1.68%; forward speed of rod elevator with asymmetrical arrangement of elliptical shaker and supporting roller 1.6 m/s at full separation of 98.5% and bulb damage 1.3%. Discussion and Conclusion. The use of a bar elevator with an asymmetrical arrangement of the elliptical shaker and support roller allows, in comparison with the symmetrical arrangement of shakers, an increase in bulb separation by 2.0% and a decrease in onion damage by 1.1%.