Fabrication and evaluation of a cabbage harvester prototype

Abstract

A cabbage harvester prototype was fabricated and tested to save time, cost, and labor for harvesting. This harvester was designed for harvesting operations to drive the prototype and control the harvester. The single-row prototype harvesting meets the functional requirements of the physical properties of the Egyptian cabbage. The performance of the harvester prototype was evaluated on two shapes of cutter disc, four cutter disc speeds, and four cutter disc angles; these parameters were assessed at 88% moisture content of the cabbage head and average forward speed of 1.5 km/h. The results demonstrated that the serrated edge cutter discs and 900 rpm disc speed produced actual productivity of 12.56 ton/h, 2.28 kW power requirements, 0.18 kW h/ton specific energy requirement, and of 3.66 $/h operating cost. It turns out that the harvester did not do major harm to the cabbage and less than 4% damage. Operating the harvester at the optimum parameters saves cost and time compared with manual harvesting.