ABP 431

CROP PROTECTION AND HARVESTING MACHINERY

PLANT PROTECTION EQUIPMENTSPRAYERS
Sprayer is a machine to apply fluids in the form of droplets. Sprayer is used for the
Following purpose.
 Application of herbicides to remove weeds.
 Application of fungicides to minimize fungus diseases.
 Application of insecticides to control insect pests.
 Application of micro nutrients on the plants.
The main function of sprayer are:
 To break the liquid droplets of effective size.
 To distribute them uniformly over the plants.
 To regulate the amount of liquid to avoid excessive application.
BASIC COMPONENTS OF SPRAYER
Components of a sprayer are as follows
(1) Nozzle body (2) Swirl plate (3) Filter
(4) Over-flow pipe (5) Relief valve (6) Pressure regulator
(7) Cut-off valve (8) Spray boom (9) Drop legs
(10) Nozzle boss (11) Nozzle disc (12) Nozzle cap
(13) Nozzle tip (14) Spray lance (15) Spray gun.
Fig.1. Sprayer components

Nozzle body - It is the main component on which other component of a nozzle fit
(Fig. 1a).

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Swirl plate - It is the part of a cone nozzle which imparts rotation to the liquid
passing through it (Fig. 1b).
Spray gun - It is a lance from which spray is readily adjustable during the
operation.
Spray boom - It is a spray lance with spray nozzles fitted to a head, mounted at
right angles to the lance (Fig. 1d).
Filter - It is a component to remove suspended matter larger than a predetermined
size from fluid.
Over-flow pipe - It is a conduit through which excess fluid from a pump is by-
passed by the action of a relief valve or pressure regulator.
Relief valve - It is an automatic device to control the pressure of fluid or gas
within range a predetermined value.
Pressure regulator - It is an automatic device to control the pressure of fluid or
gas within a range of settings.
Cut-off valve - It is a mechanism between the pump and the nozzle to control the
flow of liquid from the sprayer. This is operated by hand.
Nozzle disc - It is component containing the final orifice of a nozzle usually a cone
nozzle.
Nozzle boss - It is a lug on spray boom or spray lance to which a nozzle body or
cap is screwed.
Nozzle tip - It is component containing the final orifice of a nozzle usually a fan
nozzle.
Spray lance - A hand-held pipe through which the liquid reaches the nozzle
mounted at the free end.
TYPE OF SPRAY
(1) High volume spray (more than 400 litres spray/ha)
(2) Low volume spray (5 to 400 litres, per hectare)

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(3) Ultra low volume (ULV) spray (less than 5 litres spray/ha).
High volume spray
The dilute liquids are applied by hydraulic machines. It consumers more time and
labour.
Low volume spray
It uses air steam from a fan as a pesticide carrier with small quantities of liquid.
There is saving of material spraying.
Ultra low volume sprayer
The sprayer has a motor powered by 6 to 12 volt battery and is attached with a
spinning disc, having grooves or teeth and rotates at a very high revolution per
minute (4000-9000). The spinning disc receives the concentrated chemical from a
plastic container having a capacity of 1 litre (approx.). Average droplet size varies
between 35-100 micron .It is used for application of weedicide and for spraying
small trees and crops.
TYPES OF NOZZLE
The three common types of nozzle
(a) Hollow cone nozzle (b) Solid cone nozzle (c) Fan type nozzle.
(a) Hollow cone nozzle
This liquid is fed into a whirl chamber through a tangential entry or through a fixed
spiral passage to give a rotating motion. The liquid comes out in the form of a
harrow conical sheet which then breaks up into small drops.
(b) Solid cone nozzle
This nozzle covers the entire area at small range. The construction is similar to
hollow cone nozzle with the addition of an internal jet which strikes the rotating
liquid just within the orifice of discharge. The breaking of drop is mainly due to
impact.

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(c) Fan nozzle
It is a nozzle which forms narrow elliptical spray pattern. In this type the liquid is
forced to come out as a flat fan shaped sheet which is then broken into droplets.
This nozzles is mostly used for low pressure spraying.
Hand atomizer
This sprayer has a container of 0.5 to 3.5 litres capacity. The container has inside a
built in pump. While in other cases, the air pump is mounted externally. In both the
cases, the air pump outlet pipe is suspended in the container. The outer end of the
pipe terminates in a nozzle with 0.6 – 1.6 mm diameter orifice. The container is
filled to approximately three fourth of its capacity and air is compressed on the
remaining space by means of the pump. Before use, the plunger type pump is
worked to develop an air pressure of 0.15 – 0.35kg/cm2. The spray comes out from
the nozzle usually via. a suitable trigger control valve.The application rate ranges
from 18 to 45 litres per acre.
Hand compression sprayer: These sprayers are similar to the hand atomizer but
are adopted for spraying large quantities of liquids. They are more easily operated
than the knapsack sprayer. The typical hand compression sprayer comprises a tank
for holding spray material and compressed air, vertical air pump with a handle,
filling port, spray lance with nozzle and release and shut-off devices. Besides, it
has a metal or plastic skirt which protects the bottom of the tank of the sprayer
against wear and makes the sprayer stable when placed on the ground. It also
serves as a base for the back- rest. In addition, it has adjustable straps. These
should be made of cotton belt, leather on plastic. As the spraying proceeds, the
pumping is required to maintain the normal pressure of 2.0 – 3.5 kg/cm2.
Knapsack hand compression sprayer
It has a flat or bean-shaped tank designed to fit comfortably on the back of the
operator. The capacity of the tank is 10-20 litres. It is generally, made of

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galvanized, iron, brass or stainless steel. Recently, plastic material has also been
used for the construction of the spray tank. It is more expensive than the bucket
pump, but is similar to its in principle. In some cases, it is provided with a built-in
double barrel spray pump of piston or diaphragm type with a lever for operating. In
other cases, the tank is provided with a single pump and pressure having a plunger
pump and mechanical agitator. Higher outputs are provided by the plunger type
pumps, than by the diaphragm pumps. However, the later type of pumps requires
comparatively less energy for operation and also less maintenance. The pressure
developed in these sprayers depends on the pump and varies from 3 to12 kg/cm2
which is more than that developed in a hand compression sprayer. However, a
pressure of 3-4 kg/cm2 can be maintained in most cases without much effort. The
sprayer can be used for spraying row crops, vegetables and nursery stocks and
shrubs and trees 2-2.5mhigh. The coverage is 0.5-1.0 ha/day.
Rocker sprayer
This sprayer consists of pump assembly, platform with frame and fork, operating
lever, pressure chamber, suction hose with strainer, delivery hose, extension rod
with spray nozzles, etc. The rocking movement of the handle helps in building
pressure in the pressure chamber. There is no built in tank and separate spray tank
is necessary. The sprayer builds up a high pressure of 14-18 kg/cm2. In some it
may be as much as 36 kg/cm2. It can therefore be used for spraying the field crops.
The sprayer is popular in some of the coconut and areca nut areas. Long hose
connections up to 30 m are made to one or two outlets.
Foot or pedal sprayer
The foot or pedal sprayers, as they are commonly called, consist of plunger
assembly, stand ,suction hose, delivery hose, extension rod with a spray nozzle etc.
One end of the suction hose is fitted with strainer and the other with a flexible
coupling. Similarly, the delivery hose has one end fitted with a sheet off pistol and

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the other with a flexible coupling. Foot instead of hand operates it, but the
principle is the same as in case of the rocker sprayer. The pump is fitted on iron
stand and a pedal attached to the plunger rod operates the sprayer by its upward
and downward movement. This sprayer also does not have a built-in tank. Constant
pedaling is required for continuous spray. It develops a pressure of 17-21 kg/cm2.
It is easy to operate and can be used for spraying tall crops as well as fruit trees.
POWER SPRAYER
Motorized knapsack sprayer:
Knapsack motorized sprayer are the versatile and simple power operated machines.
The spray liquid is flown out by means of an air current generated in the machine.
They deliver 6.8 to 42.5 m3 (240 to 1500 ft3) of air per minute at a velocity of
200-420 km (125-260 miles) per hour at the nozzle. The tank, which has a capacity
of 10-12 lit, is mostly made of high density polyethylene (Fig.2). Another small
tank of 10-15 lit capacity is provided for the fuel. They are light, weighing 12-20
kg including accessories. Generally, they are powered by 1.2 – 3.0 hp petrol
engines and the frame is provided with shock-proof cushion which comfortably
fix on the back of the operator to eliminate vibrations of the engine. The delivery
hoses are very small. Some manufacturers also provide diffuser and deflector
accessories with the delivery hose for adjusting the swath according to
requirements. It is advisable not to load the tank to its full capacity. About half a
litre space should be left to provide for air cushion. A part of the air generated by
the blower is directed into the tank to form air cushion over the liquid within the
tank. Liquid from the tank passed through a tube to the nozzle on the spray lance
by gravity, partly helped by the air pressure exerted over the liquid within the tank.
The machine, when fitted with a rotary pump and high tree lance can spray trees
about 8 m high. The discharge rate can be adjusted differently and varies in
different makes taking 0.4 to 3.0 minutes to discharge one litre. Effective width is

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7-8 m horizontally and 5-6 m vertically. A power sprayer essentially consists of :
(i) Prime mover (ii) Tank (iii) Agitator (iv) Air-chamber (v)Pressure gauge (vi)
Pressure regulator (vii) Strainer (vii) Boom (ix) Nozzles.
Fig.2. Motorized Knapsack sprayer

(i) Prime mover - Prime mover is needed to supply power to the power
sprayer. It is usually combustion engine. The power generally varies from
1 to 5 HP.
(ii) Tank - Steel tank is widely used to prevent corrosion. Plastic tanks are
also getting popular due to freedom from corrosion and ease of molding
into smooth shapes. A covered opening, fitted with a removable strainer
is provided for easy filling, inspection and cleaning. A drain plug is there
at the bottom of the tank for draining the liquid.
(iii) Agitator - Agitator are needed to agitate the liquid of the tank. Propeller
or paddle type mechanical agitators are provided for agitating the liquid.
Horizontal shaft may be used with flat blades rotating at about 100 to 120
rev/min. paddle tip seeds in excess of 2.5 m/sec may cause foaming.
(iv) Air chamber - An air chamber is provided on the discharge line of the
pump to level out the pulsations of the pump thereby providing a constant
nozzle pressure.

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 (v) Pressure gauge - The pressure gauge is provided on the discharge line to
guide the operator regarding spray pressure. The spray pressure should be
under specified limit.
(vi) Pressure regulator - It is meant for adjusting the pressure of the sprayer
according to the requirement of the crops in the field.
(vii) Strainer - A strainer is included in the suction line between the tank and
the pump to remove dust, dirt and other foreign materials.
(viii) Boom - Field sprayer to be driven by a tractor has a long boom in a
horizontal place on which nozzles are fixed at specified spacing. The
boom can be adjusted vertically to suit the height of plants in different
fields.
(ix) Nozzle - It is used to break the liquid into the desired spray and deliver it
to plants. A nozzle consists of: (a) body (b) screw cap (c) disc (d) washer
(e) vortex plate (f) strainer. Usually the flow rate for a particular nozzle is
proportional to the square root the pressure and the discharge rate is
proportional to the orifice area. Nozzles have smaller angles. Operating
pressure below 1.5 kg/cm2 is undesirable because the nozzle does not
work satisfactory.
Hand Rotary Duster
This consists basically of a blower completely with a gearbox and a hopper. It is
operated by rotating the crank. The cranking motion is transmitted through the
gearbox to the blower. A drive is taken from the dust agitator located in the hopper.
The rotary duster may be hand carried type or shoulder mounted or hand carried
type. The feeder is controlled by a feed control lever, which operate a slide to
control the aperture at the bottom of the hopper.
Motorized knapsack duster

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Knapsack dusters are common in India. The capacity of the hopper is about 9 kg.
The discharge of the dust can be controlled by rotating the plated hose on the
blower elbow, which carries the discharge hose. In the spraying cum dusting unit,
the conversion of sprayers to duster is very simple and effected by replacing the
liquid feed tubes by appropriate dust feeds. Agitation is provided by directing a
part of air from the discharge. The dust tanks maybe the same as for the spray unit
except that all the liquid feeds are removed. In some cases, there is a separate unit
for replacing the spray lance. Part required for conversion of a sprayer into duster
can be purchased at nominal cost from the suppliers of knapsack sprayers cum
dusters.
Battery operated sprayer
The battery operated sprayer developed consists of a 10 lit capacity plastic tank
and a6 Volt rechargeable battery both fixed in a frame which is carried on the back
of the operator. A plastic spinning disc along with a micro motor is fitted at the end
of an aluminum handle. Chemical is taken from the tank to the spinning disc
through a plastic hose. A cut off valve is provided in the hose line to stop of flow
of spray fluid when desired. The salient features of the unit are light in weight, less
water requirement & low cost.

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HARVESTING & THRESHING EQUIPMENTS
It is the operation of cutting, picking, plucking and digging or a combination of
these operations for removing the crop from under the ground or above the ground
or removing the useful part or fruits from plants.
Harvesting action can be done by four ways:
1) Slicing action with a sharp tool.
2) Tearing action with a rough serrated edge
3) High velocity single element impact with sharp or dull edge.
4) Two elements scissors type action.
Manual harvesting involves slicing and tearing action. Harvesting can be done by:
(i) Manually operated tool (ii) Animal drawn machine (iii) Mechanically operated
machine. There are a few related terms in connection with harvesting, which are as
below:
Mower: It is a machine to cut herbage crops and leave them in swath.
Reaper: It is a machine to cut grain crops.
Reaper binder: It is a reaper, which cuts the crops and ties them into neat and
uniform sheaves.
Swath: It is the material as left by the harvesting machine.
Sickle: It is a curved steel blade having a handgrip and used for harvesting by
manually.
Windrow: It is a row of material formed by combining two or more swaths.
Windrower: It is a machine to cut crops and deliver them in a uniform manner in a
row.
Sickle:
Sickle is a simple harvesting tool. It is used for harvesting crops and cutting other
vegetation’s. It essentially consists of a metallic blade and a wooden handle.
Sickles are classified into two classes: (i) Plain and (ii)Serrated. Blade is the main

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metallic part of the sickle. It is desirable to make the blade made of carbon steel.
The blade is made in a curved shape. The teeth of serrated sickle are made sharp
for efficient working in the field. The handle of the sickle is made of well-seasoned
wood. The forged end of the blade for fixing the handle is called tang. The plain or
serrated edge in the inner side of the blade is called cutting edge. Protective
metallic bush fitted at the junction of the blade and the handle to keep the tang
tight in the handle is called ferrule. Harvesting by sickle is a very slow and labour
consuming device.
Sickle

Mower: Mower is a machine to cut herbage crops and leave them in swath. There
are different types of mower used in different ways such as:
(i) Cylinder mower
(ii) Reciprocating mower
(iii) Horizontal rotary mower
(iv) Gang mower and
(v) Flail mower.
Cylinder mower: It has rotating helical blades arranged in horizontal cylindrical
form. With the rotation of blades, forage or grasses are cut continuously.
Reciprocating mower: It is a mower with a knife having sections that reciprocate
against stationary fingers. It is most common type of mower used everywhere.

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Horizontal rotary mower: It is a mower with high speed knife rotating in the
horizontal plane. Due to rotation of knife, the grasses and forage are cut in uniform
way.
Gang mower: It is an assembly of two or more ground driven cylinder mowers.
Flail mower: It is a mower with high speed swinging knives, operating either in a
horizontal plane or around a horizontal cylinder.
Conventional Type of Mower
The conventional mower mainly consists of:
(i) Frame
(ii) Power transmitting unit
(iii) Cutting bar
(iv) Shoes
(v) Ledger plate
(vi) Wearing plate
(vii) Knife
(viii) Grass board and
(ix) Pitman.
Frame: The frame provides space for gears, clutch and bearings. The lever for
lifting the cutting bar is attached to the frame. A flywheel is used to store energy to
provide steady speed to the cutting mechanism.
Power transmitting unit
The power-transmitting unit consists of axle, gears, crank wheel, crankshaft and
pitman. Tractor drawn semi-mounted or mounted type mowers are operated by
P.T.O. shaft. In this case, the cutting mechanism is driven independently of the
forward speed of the mower. A shaft is connected with the P.T.O. shaft which
drives a pulley with the help of a universal joint. This V pulley rotates another

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smaller pulley on the crankshaft of the machine and reciprocating motion is
transmitted to the cutter bar.
Cutter bar: It is an assembly comprising of fingers, knife guides, on wearing
plates and shoes. It is used for cutting grasses and forage. It is made of high grade
steel. It works like a knife. The knife is a metal bar, on which triangular sections
are mounted. The knife section makes reciprocating motion and cuts the plants.
There are knife guards, provided on the cutter bar. The knife stops at the Centre of
the guard on each stroke. There are ledger plates provided with the knife guard, on
which the knife moves. Knife clips hold the sections down against the ledger
plates. Knife clips are placed with wearing plates spaced 20 to 30 cm apart.

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Cutter bar

Shoe - A shoe on each end of the cutter bar is always provided to regulate the
height of cut above the ground. The inner shoe is larger in section and is placed at
the inner end of the cutter bar. The outer shoe is placed at the outer end and is
smaller in section.
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 flat steel plate (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 cutter end of the mower which
causes the cut plants to fall towards the cut material. Shoes are provided for easy
and smooth sliding of the cutter bar.
Pitman -Pitman is a type of connecting rod which is pinned to the crankshaft with
the help of a pin. It transmits reciprocating motion to a knife head. Wooden pitman
is commonly used for the mowers.

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Breaking of knives - Breaking of knives is a common troubles in operation of a
mower. It is caused due to play in bearings and worn 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 of the mower, 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 in the field. Generally 2cmlead per meter 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 on every stroke i.e. the Centre of the knife section is at the
Centre of the guard, when it is in operating condition. 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 harvesting and excessive
clogging of crops on the knife.
Registration of mower

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Vertical conveyer reaper (Self operated/Tractor mounted): It is mostly used for
harvesting paddy and wheat. The reaper is front mounted at the tractor, which can
be lowered and raised by the hydraulic control. It is powered by the PTO of the
tractor. Crop is guided by the star wheel to the cutter bar and held in vertical
position by the springs. The crop is conveyed to the side by the conveyer belt. Its
capacity may be0.4-0.6 ha/h.

Self-Operated VCR
Vertical conveyer reaper (Power tiller operated): It can be used for harvesting
wheat and paddy. The reaper is front mounted on the power tiller. Power is
transmitted from the engine fly wheel to the reaper either through V belt or by
providing gear box and propeller shafts. Crop is guided by the star wheels to the
cutter bar and held in vertical position by the springs. The crop is conveyed to the
side by the conveyor belt Cutter bar length may be 100-160 cm. The capacity may
be 0.25-0.35 ha/h.
Reaper binder: It cuts and binds the crop simultaneously. It cuts the crop at the
height of about 10 cm from the ground level. The harvesting capacity is 0.25-0.35
ha/h.

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Groundnut digger shaker: It is used for digging of groundnut crop. It is a tractor
mounted PTO operated machine, suited for harvesting of both erect and spreading
varieties of groundnut crop, grown in all types of soil. It consists of digging blade
and a spike tooth conveyor.
Potato digger elevator: It is used for digging and windrowing the potatoes. The
equipment is a PTO operated single row machine. The machine consists of cutting
blade and elevator roller chain of iron bars. The potatoes are dug by the blade and
lifted to a conveyor which is under periodic shaking. The potatoes are delivered at
the rear of machine and collected manually. It is a tractor rear mounted PTO driven
machine. Its capacity may be 0.15-0.2 ha/h. It can be operated by a 20-25 hp
tractor. The groundnut vines are loosened by the blade and whole crop is lifted and
Shaken by conveyor chain to remove all the soils. There after the vines free of soil
are dropped and windrowed behind the machine. The vines are collected manually.
THRESHING
Thresher is a machine to separate grains from the harvested crop and provide clean
grain without much loss and damage. During threshing, grain loss in terms of
broken grain, un-threshed grain, blown grain, spilled grain etc. should be
minimum. Bureau of Indian Standards has specified that the total grain loss should
not be more than 5 per cent, in which broken grain should be less than 2 per cent.
Clean un-bruised grain fetch good price in the market as well as it has long storage
life.
Traditional threshing methods
Trampling of paddy under feet, beating shelves of rice or wheat crop on hard slant
surface, beating crop with a flail, treading a layer of 15 to 20 cm thick harvested
crop by a team of animals are traditional methods followed by farmers depending
upon capacity, lot size and situation. Tractor in many places is now used in place
of animals for treading. Introduction of animal drawn thresher reduced the

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drudgery of the operator and gave comparatively higher output per unit time. In all
above methods the threshed materials are subjected to winnowing either in natural
wind flow or blast from winnowing fan for separation of grain from straw.
Threshing wheat by traditional method involves drudgery and takes more time to
obtain required quality of bursa. Due to these, mechanical threshers are widely
accepted by the farmers.
Different parts of a thresher and their functions
A mechanical thresher consists of the following parts i. Feeding device
(chute/tray/trough/hopper/conveyor) ii. Threshing cylinder (hammers/spikes/rasp-
bars/wire-loops/syndicator) iii. Concave (woven wiremesh/punched sheet/welded
square bars) iv. Blower/aspirator v. Sieve-shaker/straw-walker.
Working principle of a thresher
During operation, the crop material is slightly pushed into the threshing cylinder
through the feeding chute, which gets into the working slit created between the
circumference of the revolving drum having attached spikes and the upper casing.
The speed of the spikes is greater than the plant mass due to which they strike the
latter which results in part of the grain being separated from straw. Simultaneously,
the drum pulls the mass through the gap between the spikes and the upper casing
with a varying speed. The angle iron ribs on the other hand, restrain the speed of
the travelling of stalks clamped by the spikes. Due to this the spikes move in the
working slit with a varying speed in relation to the shifting mass of material, which
is simultaneously shifted, with a varying speed with respect to the upper casing. As
a result, the material layer is struck several times by the spikes against the ribs,
causing threshing of the major amount of grains and breaking stalks into pieces. As
the material layer shifts towards the progressively converging slit of lower
concave, its size reduces.

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The vibration amplitudes, therefore, decrease whereas the speed of the layer
increases. This causes mutual rubbing of the ear stalks, as well as rubbing of the
ears against the edges of the concave bars and causes breaking of stalks depending
on the concave clearance. Since the system is closed, the thicker stalk, which
cannot be sieved through the concave, again joins the fresh stalk and the same
process is repeated until the stalk size is reduced to the extent that it can pass
through the concave apertures. Thus fine bruised straw is produced. The effective
threshing process means that the loss of un-threshed kernels ejected with the straw
through the concave and the loss of grain damage should be low and the amount of
the material passed through the concave should be high.
Power thresher

Adjustments
Various adjustments are required before starting threshing operation. The machine
is to be installed on clean level ground and is to be set according to crop and crop
conditions. The adjustments necessary to get best performance from the machine
are:
(i) Concave clearance,
(ii) Sieve clearance,
(iii) Sieve slope,
(iv) stroke length and

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 (v) Blower suction opening. Besides these, cylinder concave grate, top sieve
hole- size and cylinder speeds for threshing different crops are important
for a multi-crop thresher.
Different type of thresher and their suitability for crops
The type of thresher is generally designed according to the type of threshing
cylinder fitted with the machine. The major type of threshers commercially
available is as follows:
i. Drummy type
It consists of beaters mounted on a shaft which rotates inside a closed casing and
concave.
ii. Hammer mill type
It is similar to dummy type but it is provided with aspirator type blower and sieve
shaker assembly for cleaning grains.
iii. Spike-tooth type
Spikes are mounted on the periphery of a cylinder that rotates inside a closed
casing and concave. It is provided with cleaning sieves and aspirator type blower.
iv. Raspbar type
Corrugated bars are mounted axially on the periphery of the cylinder. It is fitted
with an upper casing and an open type concave at the bottom of the cylinder. The
cleaning system is provided with blower fan and straw walker.
v. Wire-loop type
Wire-loops are fitted on the periphery of a closed type cylinder and woven wire
mesh type concave is provided at the bottom.
vi. Axial flow type
It consists of spike tooth cylinder, woven-wire mesh concave and upper casing
provided with helical louvers.
vii. Syndicator type

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The cylinder consists of a flywheel with corrugation on its periphery and sides,
which rotates inside a closed easing and concave. The rims of the flywheel are
fitted with chopping blades.
Factors affecting thresher performance
The factors which affect the quality and efficiency of threshing are broadly
classified in three groups:
i. Crop factors: Variety of crop, Moisture in crop material.
ii. Machine factors: Feeding chute angle, Cylinder type, Cylinder diameter, Spike
shape, size, number Concave size, shape and clearance
iii. Operational factors: Cylinder speed, Feed rate, method of feeding, Machine
adjustments.
COMBINE HARVESTER
It is a machine designed for harvesting, threshing, separating, cleaning and
collecting grains while moving through standing crops. Bagging arrangement may
be provided with a pick up attachment. The main functions of a combine are:
(i) Cutting the standing crops (ii) Feeding the cut crops to threshing unit (iii)
Threshing the crops(iv) Cleaning the grains from straw (v) collecting the grains in
a container.
The whole machine is composed of the following components:
(1) Header (2) Reel (3) Cutter bar (4) Elevator canvas (5) Feeder canvas (6)
Feeding drum (7) Threshing drum (8) Concave unit (9) Fan (10) Chauffer sieve
(11) Grain sieve (12) Grain auger (13) Tailing auger(14) Tail board (15) Straw
spreader (16) Return conveyor (17) Shaker (18) Grain elevator (19) Grain
container.
Header is used to cut and gather the grain and deliver it to the threshing cylinder.
The straw is pushed back on the platform by the reel. Small combines use scoop
type headers, while large combines use T type headers with auger tables.

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Harvesting is done by a cutting unit, which uses a cutter bar similar to that of a
mower. The knife has got serrated edge to prevent the straw from slipping while in
operation. There is suitable cutting platform which is provided with a reel and a
canvas. The reel is made of wooden slats which help in feeding the crops to the
cutting platform. The reel gets power through suitable gears and shafts. The reel
revolves in front of the cutter bar, while working in the field. The reel pushes the
standing crops towards the cutting unit. The reels are adjustable up and down as in
or out. The cutter bar of the combine operates like a cutter bar of a mower. It cuts
the standing crops and pushes them towards the conveyor. The conveyor feeds the
crop to the cylinder and concave unit. The grain is swept underneath the augers and
conveyed behind them.
The threshing takes place between the cylinder and concave unit of the combine.
The basic components of the threshing unit of the combine are similar to a power
thresher. As soon as the crops are threshed, the threshed materials move to a straw
rake. These rakes keep on oscillating and separating the grains. The cleaning unit
consists of a number of sieves and a fan. The cleaning takes place on these sieves
with the help of the fan. The un-threshed grains pass through tailing augur and go
for re-threshing. The clean grains pass through grain elevator and finally go to
packing unit. Grains are collected in a hopper provided at suitable place. The fan is
adjusted such that the chaff etc. is blown off to the rear side of the machine. The
size of the combine is indicated by the width of cut, it covers in the field.
A combine may be (i) Self-propelled type and (ii) P T O driven type.

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Combine

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Forage Harvesters
A forage harvester also known as a silage harvester is a farm implement that
harvest forage plant to make silage. Silage is grass, corn or that plant that has been
chopped into small puce and compacted together in a storage silo, silage bunker or
in silage bags. The silage is the fermented to provide feed for livestock. Hay is a
similar process to silage but using grass which has dried

Forage harvester can see implement attached to a tractor or they can be self-
propelled units. In either configuration, they have either a drum (cutler head) or a
fly wheel with a number of knives fixed to it that chops and blow the silage out a
chute of the harvester or to another vehicle alongside. Larger machine also have
paddle accelerators to increase material speed and improve unloading
characteristics. Once the wagon can be detached and taken back to a silo for
offloading and another wagon can be attached. Because corn and grass require
different types of cutting equipment they are different types of cutting heads can be
connected and disconnected from harvester. Grass silage is usually cut pious to
harvesting to allow it to with, before being harvested from swathes with a
collection header maize and whole crop silage are not directly by the header using
reciprocating knives, disc movers or larges saw like blades.

Double Chop Forage Harvester

Double chop forage harvester is. Used for harvesting every kind of green fodder
and grasses in order to make silage. The rotor which has 32 floating knives picks
the grass and delivers to the sugar the feeds the flywheel the flywheel cut the grass
for the second time that results with much shorter chopping length considering the
standard forage harvester. The flywheel also blows the chopped pieces through the
chute in order to load them into the trailer.

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The floating knives are specially designed in order to prevent the damage to the
machines when they hit a hard material like stone in the field.

Benefits of Double-Chop Forage Harvester

1. Hydraulic control for chute and deflection direction

2. Durable and specially designed knives
3. Fast maintenance and repair due to easy to open flywheel cover

Hail-type forage harvester

A fail-type harvester was developed using commercially manufactured component

and a specifically designed and constructed forage collector box

The Harvester Is a Combination of Three Main Components

i. A garden tractor
ii. A commercially manufactured fort mental flat mover
iii. A specially designed and custom constructed forage collector box.

The collector box will hold up to 15kg of harvester forage, this capacity makes it
possible to harvest forage plots of sufficient size, even those that are irrigated.
Forage is removed from the collector box and weight separately. Sub-samples are
dried for determined moisture content and may be ground and analyzed for various
quality parameters

Advantages

i. Low lost
ii. The harvester is easily transported
iii. Versatility: the machine may then be used for cutting plot alley and attar
route moving

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Characteristics of Different Types of Bales

Small square bales were the first kinds of bales produced by machinery. They are
easy for humans to lift and move by themselves.

However, they required substantial storage and coverage space because they are
compressed at a much lower ration than larger square and round bales are very
susceptible to rot and water damage.

Round bales are compressed at a much larger ration and shed water easily. They
require much less shelter but cannot be stacked or transported easily and thus need
a lot of land to store. They are very easy to distribute and roll out to feed animals.
Round balers are also admirably suited to producing different kinds of feed,
especially plastic-wrapped high moisture fermented baleage.

Large square bales are compressed at high ratio and are easily stack. They can
generally be protected by traps over a large stack. They are still susceptible to rot
and mild dew if they are not protected but they are much easier to stack and
transport. Large hay producers can see cost saving on transport with large square.

Potato Harvester

Potato harvester is machines that harvest potatoes. They work by lifting the potato
from the bed using a share. Soil and crop are transferred into a series of webs
where the loose soil is sieved out. The potatoes are moved toward the back of the
harvester into a separation unit and then (on manned machines) to a picking table
where people pick out the stones, clods and haulms by hand. The potatoes then go
into a side elevator and into a trailer or potato box.

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Types

1. Potato Spinner: A potato spinner is connected to a tractor through the three

point linkage. It works by a flat piece of metal which runs horizontal to the
ground lifting the potatoes up and a large wheel with spokes on it called reel
pushing the clay and potatoes out to the side. The potatoes are then gathered
by hand, picked into containers and transported from the field for further
packaging.
The potato spinner is becoming obsolete because modern Potato harvesting
equipment eliminates manual gathering of potatoes and leaves fewer in the
soil.
2. Haulm Topper: A haulm topper is an agricultural machine that cuts potato
stems (haulms) before potatoes are harvested. It is like a flail mower but has
the profile of the potato drills. Modern potato farmers often mount a haulm
topper on the front of the tractor and have a railed potato harvester towed
behind the tractor. Toppers can also be rear-mounted. It is a very efficient
machine.

Groundnut Lifters

Animal-drawn harvesting implements are not common, but groundnut lifters have
had some success. Lifters are quite simple implement based on one wide sweep
blade. This passes through the soil at a depth of 50-100mm serving the deeper
roots and leaving the plants, to which the groundnut are still attached, lying on the
soil surface from they can be easily collected and piled. The implement share may
be.

a. A V-Shaped sweep attached centrally to a rigid stalk

b. A long, broad, straight share supported at one

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 c. A steel are supported at either end (like a curved blade harrow)
d. A complete hoop, the lower part of which acts like an arc-shape.

The stalks supporting the shares are often rounded in order that they can pass
easily through the groundnut foliage without frequent blockages. Rising rods may
be added to aid the turning of the groundnut plants turning aids rapid drying, and
therefore reduces the risk of poisonous aflatoxins building up in the plants.

Groundnut lifters can be single purpose implements but are commonly attached on
multipurpose cultivators or standard plow-beams

Groundnut lifters are generally simple implements and relatively easy to use. Their
effectiveness is largely determines by the soil conditions and extent to which plants
impale progress. If the soil becomes too hard before harvesting, the effort
required to pull the large share can be high and plant breakage will lead to higher
proportion of the crop being left in the soil. Because of their highly specialized
application they are only common in areas where groundnut are widely grown.

Mechanical Adjustable Harvester (MAH)

MAH is a machine used to harvest oil palm fruit, harvesting oil palm fruit is now
much easier, safer and faster. A typical palm fruit harvester can work through an
oil palm plantation. The MAH is used as a revolutionizing tool to the oil palm fruit
harvesting business. It has a 1.2 Hp, two stroke petrol engine, with an extension
pole that can reach palm trees up to 20feet. The biggest advantage of MAH is that
palm fruit harvesters can harvest between 150 fruit bunches per day using less than
a liter of petrol and earn up to N7500 per day.

Cassava Lifter

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Harvesting of cassava generally, still remains a problem especially to the peasant
farmers who in Nigerian are the major producers of the crops. To alleviate this
problem a manually operated cassava lifter was established. The lifter which is a
third order lever, was fabricated entirely from locally available materials. The
following functions are carried out using cassava harvester.

i. Plucking off the upper parts of the stems with the leaves before harvest.
ii. Cutting of the stem about 0.3m above the soil surface and collecting the
stems as planting material.
iii. The loosening of the soil at the cassava root zone
iv. Lifting the cassava root system from adhering soil before collecting
tubers, loading them on to transport vehicle and transporting them as
required.

Components of Cassava Lifter

1. Main Frame: This serves as the main beam of the lever mechanism which
was employed in the design. In order to maximize mechanical advantage of
the device the distance from the foot pedal to the fulcrum (effort distance)
was chosen to be 2M. The load arm for each cassava load is designed to be
35cm.
2. Cam Unit: Harvesting of cassava requires an amount of shaking to fragment
the soil, to achieve thus; three disc cams with spring loaded followers were
introduced. A cam is a machine component that either rotate or moves back
and forth (reciprocates) to create a prescribed motion in a contacting element
known as follower. In all cam systems, it is important that the follower is
always in contact and following the motion of the cam this can be achieved
by the use of spring force to constrain the follower to the cam as it rotates.

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 3. Gear Unit: in order to transmit the rotary motion of the main shaft to the
horizontal cam and spring unit bevel gears are employed. Bevel gears are
useful when the direction of a shaft rotation needs to be changed. They are
usually monitored on shafts that are 900 apart, but can be designed to work at
other angles well.

The cassava harvester was designed based on the principle of moment of a force to
maximize mechanical advantage such that relatively small amount of effort applied
at one end of a fulcrum is able to overcome a greater load on the other end. Here
the foot pedal represent one end of the fulcrum where the load will be supported
and cassava stem represent the other end of the fulcrum where greater load will be
overcome. The effort applied by the operator is significantly magnified to
overcome the load (cassava in the ground) at the extreme end of the device. The
device ensures productivity by uprooting two cassava at a time.

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