Gathering of green cane by harvesters: A first study

A modem chopper harvester (Figure 1) as currently used by the Australian sugar cane industry has a fundamental capacity of about 3 t/min if cleaning performance is ignored. In heavy, lodged crops being cut green, the harvesting rate can fall to 1 Umin. An initial investigation was undertaken to attempt to understand why the capacity of harvesters can be substantially lower in green cane. The basic mechanism which results in large reductions of harvesting capacity is thought to be inconsistent supply of cane from the gathering system to the feeding system of the harvester. Instead of a steady flow of cane, clumps of cane enter the feeding system causing it to stall (probably at the choppers) or requiring the operator to reduce ground speed so that the peaks due to clumping do not exceed the capacity of the feeding system. Inconsistent supply of cane into the feeding system is also thought to occur when harvesting burnt cane but not to the same extent as with green cane. The inconsistent feed problem occurs predominantly when the harvester had to significantly manipulatc green cane in order to achieve the desired, butt first, orientation of the cane into the harvester.