Field research of a roller-scraper bar machine for harvesting onions

The issue of improving the quality of mechanized harvesting of onion set, caused by the unsatisfactory process of separation of bulbs from strong soil lumps, is considered, because the slit working tools used for separation cannot allocate from the heap of onions commensurate in size strong soil lumps. In order to intensify the harvesting process of onion set during selection from rollers in order to exclude or reduce the capture by the receiving-digging part together with the bulbs of soil lumps and the supply of the onion-soil heap to the separating working organs, the roller-scraper bar in the machine is proposed for the first phase of onion harvesting. The constructive technological scheme and the general view of the machine for harvesting onions equipped with a roller-scraper bar, which intensifies the process of onion separation in the second phase of harvesting, are presented. The methods of carrying out field research of an experimental machine for harvesting onions are reflected, as well as qualitative indicators of machine operation in the field. Laboratory and field studies of an experimental machine for harvesting onions equipped with a roller-scraper bar were carried out on the fields of CJSC «Ozery» in the Moscow Region in 2015-2016 when harvesting onion of «Stuttgarter Riesen» variety. The results of research on the qualitative characteristics of onion set bulbs show that these indicators are higher in bulbs laid on a prepared bed and subsequently removed from the roll by a self-propelled combine harvester. It has been established that in the selection of bulbs for sowing from a roll laid on an unprepared surface of a field by a picker without a skating rink, the number of heavily damaged bulbs increases to 11,09 %, which is 5,56 % higher than the selection of bulbs from a roll with a prepared and profiled bed.