Improvements in base cutter design and cane feeding : Final report NCE004

Abstract

This project followed on from Project US2 (Cutting of sugarcane), which showed that conventional basecutters and knockdown angles contributed to cane damage and loss by way of disk contact, multiple layered cuts and stalk bending.

This project proposed that removing the use of knockdown as a primary process for feeding, and replacing the impact type cut with alternative means involving slicing cuts and serrated blade edges, would improve basecutting and feeding, and reduce the problems identified in project US2. The outcomes would be in the form of cutting and feeding modules available for retrofit or as original equipment.

The project planned to proceed by way of laboratory tests using an existing single cut device, modified to simulate the effects of harvester forward speed, followed by development of feeding means using a dedicated tractor based harvester. The laboratory trials were completed as planned, but the field trials were abandoned because of the take up of initial results by industry innovators, and the logistical difficulties of supporting a research harvester in the commercial environment.

The research undertaken in this project was primarily aimed at creating an understanding of the processes involved in cutting cane, and then using this understanding to propose and develop modifications to the conventional basecutter. The hypothesis of this research was that it is possible to improve the base cutting process in sugar cane (reducing force, energy and damage) by making a slicing cut instead of the conventional impact cut, where the cutting edge contacts the cane with its velocity oriented in the same direction as the radius to the point of contact. In Project US2, it was demonstrated that a slicing cut, when attempted using a curved edge, would push the cane aside without cutting, so serrated edges were suggested to avoid this problem.