Modification and Performance Evaluation of Pigeon Pea Stem Cutter

A pigeon pea (Cajanus Cajan L. Mills) stem cutter was developed in the department and its performance was evaluated in the field. During testing of equipment the problem were observed in the transmission of power from PTO to cutter unit. Thus modification of power transmission system of the equipment was carried out in the department of Farm Power and Machinery, Dr PDKV, Akola. Among with the modification in power transmission system, the conveying system was also modified. The cut plant were bending in opposite direction of travel during the conveying and getting chocked between the conveying tray and cutting unit in view to avoid this a plant guiding arrangement was introduce on the equipment. The cutting efficiency of the modified implement was increased due to the change in position of cutter bar and efficiency of conveying was improved tremendously with the modification of conveying tray and introduction of plant guiding arrangement. The maximum cutting efficiency was found 81.25 % and 80.00 % at 3 km/h and 3.5 km/h speeds respectively. Whereas the field efficiency was observed as 72.59 % and 74.28 % at the above mentioned speeds respectively.