Design and Testing of a Diamond-Shaped Four-Wheeled Gantry-like Sugarcane Cultivator

Abstract

As there was a lack of high-ground-clearance sugarcane field management machinery, a diamond-shaped four-wheeled gantry-like cultivator was designed and developed. Both front and rear wheels of this machine were hydraulically driven and steered, with driven wheels on both sides. A gantry-like structure was used to connect the supports of the driven wheels and the main frame; the net passing height for the sugarcane underneath the gantry was 2400 mm. The wheel track could be adjusted from 2000 to 2800 mm to adapt to different row spacings. In this study, the designs of the key components, including the drive system, the driven wheels, the wheel track adjustment mechanism, the steering mechanism and the cultivator, were achieved. Simulation analysis on the stability of the cultivator was conducted by the kinetics software ADAMS. The results showed that the limit of the longitudinal slope angle and the cross slope angle of the proposed machine was 41.25° and 31.17°, respectively. In addition, the maximum driving speed of the vehicle, the minimum turning circle, the longitudinal slope angle, the cross slope angle and the maximum ridge height were determined experimentally on the open concrete floor. The results showed that the maximum driving speed of the vehicle was 13 km/h, its minimum turning circle was 7100 mm, the longitudinal slope angle and the cross slope angle was 8°, and the maximum height of the ridge was 160 mm.