Reduction of energy consumption and damage of tubers when digging potatoes

Abstract

The analysis of potato production in Primorsky Krai of the Russian Federation is given over the last five years. The practice of using existing digging working bodies of potato harvesters on heavy soils of Primorsky Krai showed that the digging process is energy-consuming and does not meet agrotechnical requirements for tubers’ damage. Long-term research and analysis of literary sources have shown that the greatest energy costs and significant tubers’ damage occur at the stage of share entering the soil and moving tuberiferous mass on the elevator. On the basis of the existing designs’ analysis of potato harvesters’ digging working bodies and conducted patent search, the original design of finger type share is proposed. The proposed design allows to reduce the unit’s draught resistance and reduce the amount of soil entering the elevator. Installation of the proposed working body will reduce energy costs, reduce tubers’ damage and improve the quality of soil cleaning from tubers’ surface . Based on the study results, patents for useful models confirming the technical novelty of the proposed design were obtained.