Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 5.7
(
a
) Flail conditioner can vary performance by changing the distance (
d
) between the flails
and peripheral housing (A
1
) or using different flails (A
2
). (
b
) Mat conditioning system: forage is
treated more rigorously due to differences in the peripheral speed of the central big drum and the
peripheral small drums. Adapted from [
21
]
rotating tines or brushes to scratch the plant cuticle. A curtain is used to guide the
cut crop to the impeller conditioner.
Roller conditioners pass the crop between rollers to crimp or crush the crop. The
rollers are mounted parallel to the cutter bar. Roller conditioners are used to condi-
tion both chopped stalks and whole stalks. The intensity of conditioning depends on
the construction of the two rollers, which can be metal, rubber coated, smooth, cor-
rugated, or grooved (Fig.
5.8
).Conditioningeffectivenesscanbeimprovedbyoper-
atingtherollersatslightlydifferentperipheralspeeds(0.5-10 %).Thelower
clearance between two rollers also increases effectiveness of conditioning. For uni-
form and effective conditioning, the width of the conditioners should be comparable
to the cutting implement. The diameter of conditioning rollers generally ranges
from170to220mm,whilethespeedrangesfrom700to1,200rpm.
Energy grasses like Miscanthus and switchgrass are harvested when the crop
moisturecontentistypically10-15 %,thuseliminatingtheneedforielddrying.
However, conditioning is done to facilitate pickup by the baler. The rubber rollers
are more suitable for thin-stemmed crops like switchgrass, while steel rollers are
more suitable for thick-stemmed crops such as Miscanthus. The amount of condi-
tioning depends on moisture content of crops, subsequent equipment needs, and
crop being harvested. For example, heavy conditioning of Miscanthus stems is nec-
essary to break the stems into smaller pieces to avoid choking the baler because of
an uneven feed of material.
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