Experimental study of the haulm-cutting moduleof root crop harvesting machines

Reducing the energy consumption during the harvesting of large root crops (such as sugar and fodder beets, and chicory), which are used to produce food and industrial products, is a priority issue for improving the efficiency of production processes in agro-industrial enterprises. One approach to addressing this issue involves reducing the energy expenditures by the working elements of the haulm removal module in root crop harvesters by implementing a single-phase harvesting method. An improved method for haulm cutting is proposed, whereby the cut haulm is deposited in the field between two adjacent dividing discs located in the inter-row space of the root crops. This eliminates the intermediate operation of unloading the haulm onto the harvested field, which is a feature of the conventional method. Based on the results of the planned factorial experiments, empirical models were obtained that describe the functional variation of the specific mass of haulm deposited in the protective row zone, depending on changes in the module travel speed, haulm yield, and rotational speed of the rotary haulm cutter. A graphical analysis showed that the specific mass of the deposited haulm ranges from 15 to 82 g.m-2 at rotary cutter speeds of 400, 600 and 800 rpm.