Adoption of a stripper header for a Thai-made rice combine harvester

A Thai-made 108 kW rice combine harvester was modified by replacing the cutter bar system with a stripper header. The power requirement of the modified machine was measured at no load and during field operation. The stripper header system consisted of a 3 m wide stripping rotor, a metal hood and an adjustable nose. The outer diameter of the stripping rotor was 450 mm. The stripping rotor consisted of eight rubber blades fixed on an octagonal drum with each blade having 71 teeth. The work rate and harvesting losses were measured to examine the field performance of the modified machine. Results obtained from the test showed that the power requirement for the whole machine during field operation at 1600 min(-1) was 58 kW. The threshing, traction and stripper header units consumed 11.4, 22.8 and 16.9 kW, respectively and the power transmission loss was 6.9 kW. For standing crop, the average field capacity of the machine was 0.66 ha h(-1) with a corresponding field efficiency of 74%. In a lodged crop condition, the average field capacity was found to be 0.3 ha h(-1) with a corresponding field efficiency of 72%. The total grain loss of the machine was 4% of grain yield in the standing crop condition and 5.6% in the lodged crop condition. No major mechanical or operational problems were observed during field operations. (C) 2001 Silsoe Research Institute.