The mechanized harvesting of cabbage began to be developed in Russia over the past 20 years, restoring and applying forgotten technologies and technical means developed by domestic science, reports APK Expert.
When harvesting cabbage, it is important not to damage the heads, but you can harvest it with a combine with a properly organized planting so that the heads are straight and of the same size. In the last decade, cars of domestic developers have entered the cabbage fields. We will talk about them.
Cabbage harvester MKK-1 is designed for Russian conditions, is mass-produced and has shown itself to be a functional and profitable machine, since the harvesting of a marketable crop is up to 98%. The method of harvesting heads of cabbage is as follows. In operation, the harvesting unit (tractor with a combine) moves along the harvested part of the field, directing the cutting device along the row of cabbage. The cutterbar lifters lift and guide the cabbages under the pressing conveyor, where they are leveled, fixed and cut. Cut heads and loose leaves are sent by external and pressure conveyors to the bulkhead cutter conveyor. At the same time, most of the free leaves are separated from the flow by a roller leaf separator and dumped on the ground. Heads of cabbage are inspected on the bulkhead conveyor. Workers select stalks with long stumps and rosette leaves and insert them into the cutter conveyor holes, where they are cut again when they meet the passive knife. As a result, rosette leaves are freed from heads, and cut stalks roll down the tray to the ground. Then the heads of cabbage and the formed free leaves go to the rod elevator, where the leaves are screened again, and the heads of cabbage are sent for shipment. Heads of cabbage are shipped by a cabbage harvester in a sparing mode: first, onto a flexible soft flooring of a trough-shaped form, installed using a special rack on the vehicle platform above removable containers. The workers, being on the platform, take heads of cabbage from the floor and put them into containers, orienting the stumps towards the sides. After filling the containers, the vehicle is sent to the storage, where, using a forklift, the containers loaded with heads of cabbage are replaced with empty ones, leaving a flexible soft floor with a stand on the platform for the next cycle of work. The design of the harvester allows you to clean heads of cabbage directly in the field. Cabbage heads in containers during transportation and storage are protected from mechanical damage.
MKK-2 is an improved and larger cabbage harvester. The principle of operation is the same, but there are a number of improvements. Heads of cabbage can be loaded into the body in bulk, in separate containers and by careful stacking. To service the machine, also depending on the needs, 2 to 6 people are needed.
Small-sized cabbage harvester MKK of the first and second series is designed for harvesting durum white cabbage from 10 to 35 cm in diameter, planted with a row spacing of 70-75 cm, and loading into vehicles moving parallel to the combine.
A multi-variant cabbage harvester has significantly accelerated and facilitated the work of farmers. In the spring of 2022, a group of scientists from the Faculty of Engineering of the Chuvash State Agrarian University received a patent for an invention that increases the efficiency of cabbage harvesting mechanization: when used in the cutterbar of a cabbage harvester, cabbage leaves do not accumulate. This is achieved due to the fact that the cutting unit's remote conveyor was made narrower than the canvas of the elastic clamping conveyor, and its lower deflecting drum was provided with flanges that do not allow the belt to move.
Invented and patented technical solutions have raised the technical level of the machine, which is now fundamentally different from domestic and foreign analogues. Reliability is ensured by oscillating working surfaces, which are characterized by high strength and wear resistance. Finalization of heads of cabbage in it is carried out by a mechanical device. Heads are shipped point by point in a sparing mode, as they are sent to containers in cramped conditions, which reduces their damage and eliminates impacts on the edges of containers. The combine is multivariate, it can be adapted to specific agrotechnical and production conditions. It has a low metal consumption of 900 kg, high cross-country ability and low cost. The harvester developed by us can simultaneously meet the requirements of a wide range of consumers with the appropriate configuration of the harvester modules, which is beneficial for industrial production.
A prototype cabbage harvester has passed production testing. The use of such harvesters will allow vegetable growers to increase the profitability of commercial production of cabbage, the authors of the invention note.
The cabbage harvester KPK-1 harvests one row of cabbage, cultivated at row spacing of 70 cm, on flat and profiled surfaces, with the completion of heads in the process of harvesting to a marketable condition and loading into containers or vehicles moving parallel to the combine. The combine produces a rejection of non-standard small heads of cabbage. Partial completion of heads of cabbage is made by the operator. A distinctive feature of the harvester is the special design of the drive system of the working bodies. All technological processes of harvesting: direction in a row, lifting, lowering the cutter, unloading conveyor, is controlled by the tractor driver using a remote control installed in the tractor cab.