EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW TOP HARVESTING MACHINE.

In the sugar beet harvesting process the most significant technological operations are digging the root crops out of the soil and removing the uncut leaves. Field experimental studies have been carried out to determine the operational characteristics of this top harvesting machine. For this, a program and methodology for conducting such experimental studies were developed, the results of which were processed by statistical methods on a PC, using the basic methods of the regression and correlation analysis. Performance indicators have been obtained: productivity, when aggregated with a class 1.4 wheeled tractor -- 2.15 ha⋅h-1; specific fuel consumption -- 3.02 kg⋅ha-1. The power for the process of harvesting sugar beet tops is 14.48 kW, the traction power does not exceed 3.6 kW. It has been established that the power required for cutting the tops is 6.0-6.2 kW, and, to ensure transportation and loading of the cut tops into the vehicle, a power of 3.5-4.8 kW is needed. The obtained results of the investigations of the operational indicators of the three-row top harvesting machine, developed by us, are about 2 times smaller than in comparison with the commercially available harvesting machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]