RESULTS OF FIELD TESTSOF THE KPK-2-01 POTATO HARVESTER EQUIPPED WITH AN INTENSIFIER
The efficiency of potato harvesters on waterlogged soils largely depends on the design features of the separating working bodies. Rod elevators do not satisfy the separation of tubers from the soil without the intensification of the incoming tuberous mass on soils with high moisture. An intensifier in the form of a pressing conveyor with blades installed at a certain angle is proposed in this work to reduce crop losses. The conveyor rotates the side opposite to the rotation of the separating elevator of the potato harvester, located under the elevator. The effectiveness of the intensifier, as a factor that increases the separation capacity of potato harvesters when working on waterlogged soils and reduces damage, as well as the loss of tubers during potato harvesting, was studied. A comparative agrotechnical assessment of the serial and modernized KPK-2-01 potato harvester on the fields in the Kursk region showed the following. The completeness of harvesting increased by 10%, and damage to tubers decreased by 38% when harvesting potatoes on a combine with the developed intensifier. During the harvesting of potatoes at a high humidity of 26.3%, no sticking of the gap between the bars was observed. The completeness of separation was 93.5%. The absence of sticking of the gap between the bars also made it possible to increase the operating speed of the combine from 0.84 m/s to 0.86 m/s.