Harvesting

AGRICULTURAL
Revised 2017
MACHINERY
AND
EQUIPMENT

n It is the process of gathering matured crops that is ready for

HARVESTING EQUIPMENT processing or consumption.

by

Alexis T. Belonio, MS, PAE, ASEAN Engineer

Former Associate Professor

Department of Agricultural Engineering and Environmental Management
College of Agriculture Resources and Environmental Sciences
,Central Philippine University, Iloilo City

Former Affiliate Professor

Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
College of Engineering, Central Luz on State University
Science City of Munoz , Nueva Ecija

Former Adjunct Assistant Professor

Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and
Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering and Agro-industrial Technology
University of the Philippines at Los Banos
College, Laguna

Kinds of Mechanical Harvester

Classifications of Grain Harvesting
Equipment
n Grain Harvester
n Corn Harvester n Manual Harvesting – using hand tools such as scythe, sickle, and
others. Manpower requirement ranged from 60-80 persons-hr/ha
n Sugar Cane Harvester
n Cotton Harvester
n Forage Harvester
n Root Harvester
n Hay Harvester

Sickle Harvesting “Yatab” Panicle Harvesting

n Mechanical Harvesting – using power equipment and

machineries.
(a) Reaper – Only cuts the panicle during harvesting
(b) Reaper binder – It cuts the panicle and bind them
together for ease of hauling into threshing place.
(c) Stripper – Does not cut the panicle. Instead it
separates the grain by the combing action of the
stripper teeth of the machine.
(d) Combine – It harvest and thresh the grain in one
operation.

Different Kinds of Sickle

1
 Reaper
Losses Related to Reaping
n They are machines that cuts the
panicles and place it on a windrow. n Laying or Windrow Loss – good grains that are shattered when
They are either power tiller or cut crops are laid from horizontal conveyor to the ground.
tractor operated machine.
n Header Loss – good grains shattered during the cutting and
transporting by horizontal flat belts towards the discharge end.
n Crop Damage Loss – unrecoverable good grains that are
available from standing crop that has been knocked down or
damaged by the machine during the cutting operation.

Stripper Harvester
Ways to Reduce Reaper’s
Harvesting Losses
n These grain harvesting machines that do not cut the panicle
n Avoid sharp turn when cutting. during harvesting operation. Instead it strip-off the grain from the
panicle by combing action.
n Reduce cutting speed when cutting shattering variety.
n Clear the rice panicle off the upper lugs and star wheels
whenever possible.

Advantages of Stripper
Harvesting
n Simplicity
n Ease of construction
n Robustness of rotor which
can do function such as
– Crop lifting
– Harvesting
– Partial threshing Transporting
– Crop transport
Harvesting Operation

2
 Combine Harvester
n It heads the standing grain, thresh
it and clean it as it moves over the
field. It eliminates from the
harvest the activity of grain binder,
the header, and the stationary
thresher as well as the activity of
stacking and hauling the grains.
The combine is well adapted for
harvesting small grains,
soybeans, grain sorghum, rice
and many others.

Types of Combine Harvester

n Pull-Type Combine – This machine
is being drawn by a tractor and
power is transmitted through the
power take-off shaft for smaller unit
while with an auxiliary engine for
larger unit.
n Self-Propelled Combine – This
machine is power by 60 to 150 hp
industrial engine and is operated by
one person.

3
 Threshing
Basic Functions of Combine Separating
Mechanism

Mechanism
n Cuts the standing grain
n Feed the cut grain to the cylinder
Cutting
n Threshing the grain from the stalk or steam Mechanism
n Separates the grain from the straw
n Cleans the grain by removing the chaff and other foreign matter
n Handling the grain from the combine to the truck

Cleaning
Mechanism

Handling
Threshing
Mechanism
Separating Mechanism
Mechanism

Cutting Mechanism

Cleaning
Mechanism
Cutting Cleaning Mechanism
Mechanism

Losses Related to Combining of

Grains
n Shatter Loss – grain lying on the ground or out of reach of the
cutter bar.
n Cutter Bar Loss – grain lost due to rough handling by the cutter
bar.
Threshing Mechanism n Cylinder Loss – grain lost over the straw rack in the form of
unthreshed heads.
n Separating Loss – grain lost out of the rear of the combine in the
form of threshed grain.
n Cleaning Loss – loss in the value of the crop due to the
presence of foreign matter in the grain tank.

Cleaning Mechanism

4
 Corn Harvester
Type of Corn Picker According to
n It is called as corn picker Power Unit
either a single- or double-row
machine equipped with n Pull-type – It is being driven by a
snapping rolls to remove the tractor as separate unit and power is
ears from the standing stalks. transmitted through power take-off
drive.
n Self-Propelled – It is driven by an
industrial engine as integral part of
the machine.

Factors Affecting the Performance of

Types of Corn Picker Corn Picker
n Plant Characteristics
n Snapper – It snaps the ears from the – Variety or hybrid suitable for machine harvesting, stiff stalks that stand
stalk and does not remove the husks. up and do not break over and lodge, condition of stalk, height of ears
and stalks, toughness of the ear shanks, Size of ears – large reduces
n Picker-Husker – It is equipped with a shelling losses, hard shelling characteristics reduce shelling losses,
husker attachment in addition to thick, tight husk on ear desirable for snapping but not husking
snapper and also removes the husk. n Mechanical Factor
n Picker-Sheller – It snaps the corn – Type of snapping roll surface, adjustment of snapping rollers-distance
apart, timing of snapping rollers, rate of travel, type of wagon hitch,
and shell it in the field. adjustment of dividers to pick-up stalks which are down.
n Miscellaneous Factor
– Timeliness of harvest, field loss is less if harvesting is done early,
carefulness of operator, weather condition, cleanliness of fields,I.e.
freedom from tall weeds and grasses, length of rows, row spacing
suitable for machine.

Cotton Harvester
Losses Related to Corn
Harvesting n It is called as cotton stripper
which harvest cotton by combing
n Loose Ear Loss – ears separated from the stalk and lying on the action of a rolling pickets.
ground out of reach of the gathering mechanism.
n Types:
n Picker Ear Loss – ears left on the ground that were attached to the
stalks but escaped the snapping rolls while being picked up by the Double Roller – Machine with
gathering points. alternate rows of nylon brush bristles
n Shelled Corn Loss – shelled corn lying on the ground as a result of and flexible rubberized strip. They
shelling occurring at the snapping roll. maybe centrally mounted on the
n Shelling Loss – corn kernel loss over rack that were not shelled from tractor or maybe self-propelled.
the cob.
Multiple Finger or Comb-Type – They
n Separating Loss – Individual corn kernel lost over the rack that were
not separated from husk, silks, etc. are centrally mounted on the tractor or
is pulled behind the tractor

5
 Factors Affecting the Performance of Forage Harvester
Cotton Stripper
n They are machine used for
n Plant characteristics gathering silage crops such as
n Thickness of plant in row grasses or straws for feeds.
n It performs harvesting and chopping
n Cultural practices green row crops consisting of plant-
n Pick-up fingers or limb lifters cutting unit and a chopping unit.

n Design of stripping unit

n Conveying system
n Rate of travel

Advantages of Field Forage Sugar Cane Harvester

Harvesters
n Eliminates the drudgery of lifting and loading heavy green
bundles of corn per hectare
n Provides ensilage at lower cost
n Provides more tons of fee per silo
n Permits filling the silo when the crop is at the right stage
n Make ensilage with greater feeding value
n Provides more uniformity of feeding value from any part of silo
n Provides more uniform, slid pack without air pockets, thus
preventing molds
n Causes no wilting of leaves or loss of previous moisture
n Leaves no mud or contaminating soil bacteria on butts
n Avoid soggy material which often occurs when the silo is filled
too early with green, immature corn.

Root Harvester
n They are machines used to dig and separates the roots of the crop
from the soil.
n Common applications root harvesters are for potatoes, beets,
peanuts, sweet potato, and many others

6
 Citrus Harvester Pineapple Harvester

A combine harvester with 3 meter wide

Useful Formula effective width passes the field at a
speed of 4 kph. If the field efficiency of
the machine is 70%, what is the field
capacity of the harvester?
Theoretical Field Capacity = 0.1 x header width (m)
x machine velocity (kph) Given:
Width of harvester -3 m
Effective Field Capacity = field efficiency x Velocity of harvesting - 4 kph
theoretical field capacity Field efficiency - 70%

Power Requirement = Specific Draft x No. of Row Required: Effective field capacity

Solution: FC theoretical = 0.1 x 3 m x 4 kph

Power Requirement = Specific Power x Header Width = 1.2 ha per hr
FC effective = 1.2 ha per hr x 0.70
= 0.84 ha per hr

A five-row reaper with a spacing

Solution:
of 30 cm per row harvest at a
Power = specific draft x No. of Row
speed of 2 kph. The field
= 2 kg/row x 5 rows
efficiency of the reaper is 70%. If
= 10 kg x 2 kph x 1000 m/km x hr/3600 sec
the specific draft of the machine
= 5.56 hp
is 2 kg per row, what is the power
FC theo = 0.1 x (5 rows x 30 cm/row) x 2 kph
output reaper?
= 0.1 x 1.5 m x 2 kph
Given: = 0.30 ha/hr
FC eff = 0.30 ha/hr x 0.70
No. of row -5 = 0.21 ha/hr
Row spacing - 30 cm
Speed of harvesting - 2 kph
Field efficiency - 70%
Specific draft - 2 kg/row

Required: power of the reaper and effective field capacity

7
A 6-meter wide harvester is harvesting
corn at a rate of 100 kg per minute. Solution:
The effective width of the machine is FC theo= 0.1 x (6 m x 0.90) x 2.5 kph
90% of its width. If it runs at a speed
of 2.5 kph, what is the effective field = 1.35 ha/hr
capacity and harvesting rate of the FC eff = 1.35 ha/hr x 0.70
machine in tons per hectare? Assume
a field efficiency for the machine of = 0.945 ha/hr
70%. Harvesting Rate= (100 kg/min x 1 ton/1000 kg
Given: Width of harvester - 6 meters x 60 min/hr ) / (0.945 hr/hr)
Effective width - 90% of machine width
Harvesting rate - 100 kg per minute = 6.3 tons per hectare
Speed of harvesting - 2.5 kph
Field efficiency - 70%

Required: Effective field capacity and harvesting rate in tons per

hectare

Field Efficiency Data Operating Speed

Reaping or Binding 1.6 – 3.5 kph

Reaping or Binding 60 – 80% Combining 1.6 – 4.8 kph
Combining 50 – 75% Mowing 1.6 – 4.8 kph
Mowing 50 – 80% Raking 2.4 – 5.0 kph
Raking 60 – 85% Baling 2.4 – 5.0 kph
Baling 50 – 75% Field Chopping 3.0 – 5.0 kph
Field Chopping 40 – 70%

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 References
Specific Draft and Power
Requirement n ASAE. ASAE Standards 1997. Standard Engineering Practices
Data. American Society of Agricultural Engineers. The Society for
Engineering in Agricultural, Food, and Biological Systems. 2950
Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 USA. Pp. 264-275.
Reaping or Binding 1 – 2 kg/row n Hunt, D. 1982. Farm Power and Machinery Management. Eight
Combining 2 – 4 kg/row Edition. Iowa State University Press. Ames, Iowa. 325pp.
Mowing 0.5 – 0.8 hp/ft n Smith, H. P. and L. H. Wilkes. 1977. Farm Machinery and
Equipment. Sixth Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company
Raking 0.2 – 0.6 hp/ft Ltd. New Delhi, India. 487pp.
Baling 1 – 3 hp/ton
Field Chopping 1 – 3 hp/ton

Thank you very much and

God bless!!!

Recipient, 2016 Outstanding ASEAN Engineering Contribution Award (AFEO, Malaysia)

Associate Laureate, Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2008 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Laureate, Economic Business Development, The Tech Awards 2010 (San Jose, California, USA)
Recipient, Betterment for Mankind Award 2011 (Morgan Hill, California, USA)
Awardee, Seven Inspiring Modern-Day Filipino Heroes 2011 (Yahoo Southeast Asia)
Awardee, Heroes for Better 2015 (Western Union Philippines)
Awardee, The Outstanding Young Filipino 1997 (TOYM and Roxas Foundation)
Awardee, Outstanding Professional in Agricultural Engineering 1993 (Professional Regulation Commission)