Silage Harvester
Silage Harvester
a machine that combines the operations of cutting and chopping agricultural crops that are to be ensiled and loading the crops into transport vehicles. A silage harvester can also be used to prepare haylage, green topdress-ing, and grass meal.
The cutting mechanism of the silage harvester severs the stalks and a reel places them on a feed conveyor, which transports them to the upper and lower rollers of the feed apparatus. The rollers seize the stalks, compress them, and push them onto the shear plate of a chopping mechanism. A knife drum paired with the shear plate cuts off sections of the stalks, which fall onto a conveyor. The conveyor unloads the chopped material into transport vehicles.
| Table 1. Specifications for silage harvesters manufactured in the USSR | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Specification | |||
| Model | |||
| KS-2.6 | KSG-2.6 | KS–1.8 | |
| Swath width (m) ............. | 2.6 | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| Productivity (ha/hr)........... | 0.-9–1.5 | 1.0 | 0.6–1.1 |
| Cutting height (mm)........... | 80–150 | 150–200 | 60–200 |
| Length of cut section (mm) ...... | 20 | 20–30 | 10–60 |
| Tractor models used .......... | MTZ-80 T–150 T–74 DT–75 | self-propelled | MTZ–80 T–150 T–74 DT–75 luMZ–6 |
The USSR produces trailer and self-propelled silage harvesters; the latter are used for work on very wet soils. The harvester is controlled by the tractor driver or the harvester operator (for self-propelled models). Silage harvesters used abroad operate in a similar manner.