IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF HARVESTING SUNFLOWER SEED CROPS.

The relevance of research is conditioned by the need to improve the efficiency of plot combines for harvesting sunflower seed crops. Experimental studies were carried out by planning and staging multifactorial experiments. The dependence of the force factors influence on the seed shedding from a sunflower basket was obtained based on the laboratory studies results. This dependence makes it possible to evaluate the influence of the parameters of the harvester header on the value of seed losses from shedding. The study made it possible to substantiate the design of the header attachment of the plot combine, consisting of a three-blade reel, box-type dividers and side shields. An experimental sample of the header attachment to the "Sampo-500" grain harvester has been developed and manufactured. Experimental studies of the influence of the speed of the combine movement and the coefficient of the operation kinematic mode of the reel to the developed device on the quality indicators of the harvesting of sunflower crops seeds were carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]