Yong Choi

Development of a Belt Pick-up One-row Soybean Cutter

This study was carried out to develop a belt pick-up type one-row soybean cutter, using physical properties and production conditions of soybeans. The prototype soybean cutter consisted of 4 parts: cutting part, conveying part, collecting part, and travelling part. The prototype soybean cutter was designed to cut soybeans planted with a row spacing of 600 mm, and at a height of 30 mm from the bed bottom using a disk saw. Through various trials with different peripheral velocities of the disk saw and forward speed of the cutter, determined ranges of the peripheral velocity of the disk saw cutting soybeans stems were greater than 18.3 m/s. Spacing between pick-up belts (clearance) was in a range of 60~90 mm so that soybeans could be picked at heights greater than 25 cm, and the size and shape of the pick-up belt were determined the conventional manual harvesting method. The optimal ratio between the forward speed of cutter and the peripheral speed of pick-up belts were from 1 to 1.2 by theoretical analysis. the pick-up belts had a of tilted angle and of twisted angle to pick up soybeans safely from the plant input to the lower end of the belts and convey soybeans to the upper end of belts nearby a container. The soybeans at the rear container were dropped down on the soybean row with an interval. The effective field capacity of the prototype soybean cutter was 0.136 ha/h, reducing the working hour by 92% when compared with the manual cutting.

Design and Safety Performance Evaluation of the Riding Three-Wheeled Two-Row Soybean Reaper

National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development of Administration, Jeonju, 54875 Korea Received: November 7th, 2016; Revised: November 18th, 2016; Accepted: November 21st, 2016 Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the key factors in designing a three-wheeled two-row soybean reaper (riding type) that is suitable for soybean production, and ensure worker safety by proposing optimal work conditions for the prototype of the designed machine in relation to the slope of the road. Methods: A three-wheeled two-row soybean reaper (riding type) was designed and its prototype was fabricated based on the local soybean-production approach. This approach was considered to be closely related to the prototype-designing of the cutter and the wheel driving system of the reaper. Load distribution on the wheels of the prototype, its minimum turning radius, static lateral overturning angle, tilt angle during driving, and The working and rear overturning (back flip) angle were measured. Based on the gathered information, investigations were conducted regarding optimal work conditions for the prototype. The investigations took into account driving stability and worker safety. Results: The minimum ground clearance of the prototype was 0.5 m. The blade height of the prototype was adjusted such that the cutter was operated in line with the height of the ridges. The load distribution on the prototype’s wheels was found to be 1 (front wheel: F): 1.35 (rear-left wheel: RL): 1.43 (rear-right wheel: RR). With the ratio of load distribution between the RL and RR wheels being 1: 1.05, the left-to-right lateral loads were found to be well-balanced. The minimum turning radius of the prototype was 2.0 m. Such a small turning radius was considered to be beneficial for cutting work on small-scale fields. The sliding of the prototype started at 25°, and its lateral overturning started at 39.3°. Further, the critical slope angle for the worker to drive the prototype in the direction of the contour line on an incline was found to be 12.8°, and the safe angle of slope for the cutting was measured to be less than 6°. The critical angle of slope that allowed for work was found to be 10°, at which point the prototype would overturn backward when given impact forces of 1,060 N on its front wheel. Conclusions: It was determined that farmers using the prototype would be able to work safely in most soybean production areas, provided that they complied with safe working conditions during driving and cutting.

Study on Performance Improvement of a Head-Feeding Rice Combine for Foxtail Millet Harvesting

Purpose: The study was conducted to investigate the proper working conditions like the mesh size of the concave and the chaffer angle of the oscillating sieve, and the fan speed of the head-feeding rice combine for foxtail millet harvesting. Methods: The study aimed to determine the harvesting conditions for the rice combine harvester at a 0.5 m/s working speed and at 40° and 55° sieve chaffer angles. The harvesting loss of the foxtail millet based on the speed of the fan and the oscillating speed of the sieve was measured at three levels of fan speed and oscillating sieve speed. Results: The threshing rates of different foxtail millet varieties were 64.1~83.5% at a mesh size of 7 mm of the concave. In experimental foxtail millet harvesting, the optimal operating condition of the rice combine harvester included a 40° sieve chaffer angle and a 4.8 Hz oscillating sieve (cleaning shoe) frequency. The grain loss was found to be lower at a 40° than at a 55° sieve chaffer angle. In field harvesting using the combine harvester, the lowest harvesting grain loss rate of the foxtail millet varieties ranged between 0.2~0.5% at a 7 mm mesh concave, 40° chaffer angle, 4.8 Hz sieve frequency, and a 20 m/s fan speed at an engine speed of 2,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). Conclusions: Findings showed that foxtail millet could be harvested using the combine harvester.

Development of a Rapeseed Reaping Equipment Attachable to a Conventional Combine (II) - Evaluation of Feasibility in Rapeseed Harvesting -

A rapeseed reaping equipment attachable to a conventional combine was developed in order to harvest rapeseed for bio-diesel materials. This study was carried out to measure the harvest feasibility of a prototype combine in rapeseed fields. Grain, stem and pod flow rate, grain qualities (whole kernel, damaged kernel, unhulled kernel, material-other-than-grain) and grain loss rates (header, threshing, separation) were investigated in each field test. As the result of the fold test, the average grain flow rates of SUNMANG and MS varieties showed 1,430 kg/h and 2,038 kg/h, respectively. The average stem and pod flow rates showed 3,443 kg/h and 6,596 kg/h, respectively. In each working speed, the average whole kernel rate and the material-other-than-grain showed 99.9% and below 0.08%, respectively. In the average grain loss, the rates showed 5.66% in case of SUNMANG and 5.94% in MS. Header loss was higher than other parts for SUNMANG. However, threshing loss was relatively higher than other parts for MS. Header loss rate due to side cutter knifes, however, was not so high when compared with a grain loss due to the cutter bar. Effective field capacity and field efficiency of the prototype combine showed 0.389 ha/h and 44%, respectively. Comparison of customary combine with the prototype combine through field test demonstrated that the header loss was reduced by 69.3% when the prototype combine was used.

Development of a Belt Pick-up Type Two-row Sesame Reaper

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a walking-type two-row sesame reaper, which can simultaneously perform the cutting and collecting of sesame plants and other crops like perilla and soybean. Methods: The factors involved in reaping sesame were determined experimentally in order to design a prototype of the sesame reaper. The prototype is made up of four parts for cutting, conveying, collecting, and running. The height of two disc-plate saw blades on the cutting part is adjusted by an adjusting wheel, and peripheral speed is adjusted in accordance with the running speed. The conveying belt of the conveying part can be tilted from 0° to 90°. The collecting part extracts a predetermined amount of transferred sesame plants. The prototype was used to evaluate the performance at different working speeds, so that the work efficiency can be calculated. Results: The center of gravity of the sesame plants was 900 mm, measured from the end of the cut stem. The diameter of the disc-plate saw blade was determined to be 355 mm, peripheral speed was 20.4–32.7 m/s, and the picking height of the conveying belt for sesame was 130 mm. The performance of transfer and collection of the sesame, when the insertion angles were 60° and 90°, proved to be excellent. However, when the angle was over 120°, the performance was only 75-80%. The performance was at 100% efficiency when the ratio between running speed and conveying belt speed of the prototype was 1:2, which seems to be the ideal ratio for the sesame reaper. Conclusions: A sesame reaper was developed, which can integrate the processes of cutting, conveying, and collecting, by investigating and considering various factors involved in the reaping process. The sesame reaper can reduce the costs for yielding and producing sesame due to its highly efficient performance.

Required Mowing Power and Bale Density of Miscanthus × Giganteus for Field Biomass Harvesting using Different Methods

th , 2014; Accepted: November 25 th , 2014 Purpose: This study investigated the harvesting properties of the giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) to measure the required mowing power for different stem conditioning methods in order to shorten the drying time after mowing and the bale density so that the crop can be used as biomass in the winter season. Methods: The required mowing power and bale density were measured using a power measurement device, three d ifferent mower-conditioners, and a mid-sized round baler under different working speeds and conditioning methods. Results: For the various mower-conditioners, the average stem length from mowing was 0.86– 0.91 m, and the available working speed was 1.6 m/s. The steel roller-type mowerconditioner showed better stem conditioning but could not mow over a working speed of 1.6 m/s. The required average power of the mower-conditioners varied from 23.8 kW for the ste el roller-type rotary disk mower-conditioner with a working width of 2.4 m to 37.2 kW for the flail-type rotary dis k mower-conditioner with a working width of 3.2 m at a working speed of 1.6 m/s. The bale densities were 155.8–172.2 kg/m 3 . The highest bale density was measured for stems with no conditioning and a moisture content of 11.3% (d.b.) mowed by the rotary disk mower. The bale density was affected by the mowing method because of the low moisture content of the miscanthus stems. Conclusions: In terms of the working performance and conditioning statue, the steel roller-type mower-conditioner is a better choice at a working width of 2.4 m, while the flail finger-type mower-conditioner is better at a working width of 3.2 m. The type of mower-conditioner used for giant miscanthus harvesting should be determined by considering the harvest area, workable period, and working performance of a mower-conditioner and baler during the winter.

Development of a Crawler Type Vehicle to Travel in Water Paddy Rice Field for Water-Dropwort Harvest

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop a rubber-crawler type vehicle as a traveling device for harvesting water-dropwort cultivated in water contained paddy rice field in winter season. Methods: A commercial rubber-crawler type vehicle was used to investigate application of rubber crawler to the paddy rice field as preliminary test. As the result of the preliminary test, a both prototype traveling device with rubber crawlers for a water-dropwort harvest was designed with inclination of 45° at the front-end and rear-end of crawler under the basic water depth of 0.6 m in the paddy rice field. The device was fabricated and attached to the experimental harvesting test devices on the front of the prototype vehicle. The size of the prototype crawler vehicle with a harvesting part is 2,800 x 1,460 x 1,040 (mm) (LxWxH) with weight of 9.21 kN (maximum). Sizes of the crawler of prototype vehicle are ground contact length of 900 mm, width of 180 mm, height of 1,070 mm and distance between center to center of crawlers of 720 mm. The side-overturn angle of the prototype was 26.4°. Results: Driving performance of the prototype vehicle in water contained paddy field were good at both forward and reverse (backward) directions as weights were applied. The drawbar pull and the maximum sinking depth of the prototype vehicle were 3.5 kN and 0.13 m respectively at water depth of 0.5 m, when the weight and bearing capacity of the prototype rubber crawler in the paddy field were 8.51 kN and 26.3 kN/m 2 , respectively. Conclusions: Results of the driving test performance of the prototype crawler in paddy rice field at the water depth of 0.5 m were satisfactory. The prototype had enough drawbar pull and driving ability in the deep water contained paddy field.

Investigation of Centrifugal Rice Seeder for Unmanned Helicopter

Purpose: While an unmanned helicopter has been extensively used for spraying chemicals on agricultural crops, its low utilization (two months per year from July to August) has recently become an issue. This study aimed to increase the utilization of the unmanned helicopter. The centrifugal rice seeder, a mounting device for rice seeding for unmanned helicopter was developed and assessed its performance. Methods: The concept of the centrifugal spraying device was to obtain design criteria for centrifugal distribution. Four types of blade shapes namely straight, curved, straight wing and curved wing were developed and used. The rotational speed of the blades was tested at 1,000, 1,200 and 1,400 rpm. Results: The blade shapes, rotational blade speed and angle of trajectory were theoretically analyzed and results were validated with a series of laboratory experiments. Conclusions: The curved wing blades provided the distribution uniformity (DU) at 1,200rpm of rotational speed and 60 degree of seed drop point. The spray uniformity of 4.2% was also achieved.

Development of a Moisture Content Sensor for Rapeseed as Biodiesel Raw Material

This study was conducted to develop a moisture sensor for rapeseed, a bio-diesel material. A typical rapeseed, SUNMANG, was used as a raw material. The rapeseed moisture content sensor consists of three components, such as upper and bottom electrodes, a test material dish, and a fixing housing. To evaluate the performance, a data acquisition system was equipped with the rapeseed moisture sensor, computer, printer, and main board. The findings of this study were: 1) the rapeseed moisture content was inversely proportional to electric resistance, and 2) values of electric resistance were recorded in a range of , depending upon a change of the moisture content. The determination of coefficient () and standard error between rapeseed moisture content and electric resistance were 0.9921 and , which indicated a highly correlative relationship. The response of rapeseed moisture sensor to temperature change was also observed for further performance test. Satisfying results were obtained, such as the determination of coefficient () of 0.9918, predicted standard error of , deviation of 0.103%, measurement error of , standard deviation of , and measurement time of 28.3 s per point, respectively.

Development of Side-discharge Type Mid-mower Attached to a Tractor*

Abstract A side-discharge mid-mower attached to a 22 kW-powered tractor (Tongyangmoolsan Co. Ltd., T-300) was developed. Relationships between rotating velocity of a blade and the wind velocity at the outlet of the mid-mower, the required power to operate the mid-mower, cutting and discharging conditions relative to height of lawn, and working speed were tested. Results showed that the proper height and width of the outlet were at 195 mm and 520 mm, respectively. Reliable cutting height of lawn was about 100 mm with blades having bended angles greater than 20°. The torque limit at mid-PTO of the tractor was about 270 Nm and the required maximum torque for mowing was about 223 Nm. Therefore, the mid-PTO of the tractor has 17% more torque available than the maximum torque of the mid-PTO for mowing. The total PTO power requirement to propel the mid-mower was 8–10 kW at a working speed of 7 km/hr and 1.8m width of the mower. The field capacity of the prototype mid-mower attached to the tractor (22Kw) was about 1.26 ha/hr. Consequently, the prototype mid-mower was fully compatible with a small tractor.