Design, Fabrication And Performance Evaluation Of A Two Wheel Tractor Operated Onion Harvester

Abstract

Onion` Is A Root Crop That Had Been Harvested Manually In Ethiopia Which Was Tedious, Consumes Time, Labor-Intensive, And Costly Operation. A Two-Wheel Tractor Operated Onion Harvester Has Not Designed Specifically In Ethiopia For Effective Harvesting Operation And The Harvester Designed By Foreigners Were Applied On Raised Beds Only, And Scatters Onion Bulbs On The Field Because Of The Designed Machines Have Not Cutting Disc And Collector. Therefore, This Study Was Focused On The Design, Development, And Performance Evaluation Of A Two Wheel Tractor-Operated Onion Harvester. The Physical Properties Of Onion And Soil Relevant To The Design Of The Digger Were Studied And Each Component Of The Machine Was Designed Accordingly. The Experimental Design Used Was Laid In A Split-Plot Design. The Design Of The Harvester Was Based On The Use Of Locally Available Materials To Reduce Costs. A Prototype Of The Harvester Was Constructed And Tested In The Field To Evaluate Its Performance. The Performance Of The Harvester Was Evaluated Based On Its Efficiency, Productivity, And Cost Effectiveness. The Maximum And Minimum Digging Efficiency Of The Machine Was 97.03% At 1.39km/Hr Forward Speed And 10cm Depth Of Operation And 84.60% At 4.15km/Hr Forward Speed And 5cm Depth Of Operation Respectively. The Maximum Mean Damage Percentage, Missing Percentage, Drawbar Pull, Fuel Consumption, Wheel Slip, Field Efficiency, And Field Capacity Were 4.56%, 11.36%, 2935.4n, 15.51 L/Ha, 20.82%, 90.84% And 0.157 Ha/H Respectively. Based On The Results, The Machine Was Found To Be Acceptable For Use By Small Scale Farmers.