Harvesting performance of an experimental pick-up type pulse crop harvester for green kernel black bean

An experimental pick-up type pulse crop harvester was built and its harvesting performance for green kernel black bean was evaluated. Field bean loss and harvested bean quality of the harvester were analyzed according to engine speeds of 2,000; 2,400; 2,800; 3,000; and 3,200 rpm, and travel speeds of 0.6; 1.0; and 1.4 m/s. Operating conditions and field capacity of the harvester for proper harvesting were estimated. The harvester had an optimum performance at a grain moisture content of 13.4%, an engine speed of 3,000 rpm, and a travel speed of 1.2 - 1.3 m/s. Subsequently, the picking-up, discharging, and total bean loss ratios were found to be 1.6, 1.3, and 2.9%, respectively. The whole bean, damaged bean, unthreshed bean, and foreign material ratios were determined to be 96.2, 1.0, 0.1, and 0.3%, respectively. Results showed that the harvester had lower bean loss and higher harvested bean quality than those of imported bean combines. The harvester could harvest 2 rows with a crop spacing of an approximately 1.4 m. Its optimum travel speed was estimated to be approximately 1.2 m/s when harvesting performance was taken into account using such variables as field bean loss and harvested bean quality for green kernel black bean. Effective field capacity of the harvester was estimated at approximately 40 a/h.