Combine harvester for harvesting cabbage in small-scale farming

BACKGROUND: Currently, cabbage is cultivated in almost all regions of Russia. However, its production volumes are insufficient. A further dynamic increase in the volume of commercial cabbage production is not possible due to the lack of modern cabbage harvesting equipment for vegetable growing. AIM: Development of the new cabbage harvester taking into account modern conditions of vegetable growing and assessment of the quality of its operation. METHODS: As part of this aim, a prototype of the small-sized cabbage harvester was developed, the operating mode of its main leaf separating device was justified, and the quality of operation was assessed in production conditions in accordance with the requirements of the AIST 8.7 – 2013. RESULTS: During the test, a pronounced flow of all operations performed with the cabbage harvester was observed. The performance indicators of the combine harvester compare favorably with the indicators of agrotechnical requirements (ATR), in particular, the operating speed is on average 53% higher than the speed provided for by the ATR, damage to cabbage heads is up to 9%, and there is practically no contamination of the product. CONCLUSION: Field tests showed a fairly high operability of the developed cabbage harvester, compliance with the quality performance indicators of agrotechnical requirements in modern conditions of vegetable growing.