It is important to find the cutting force required to cut the crop stalk in designing a harvester for finger millet. The selection of power source and optimization of pertinent machine parameters are very important design considerations. Therefore, a laboratory setup was required to measure the mechanical strength involved and the influence of attributing parameters in cutting the crop. A cutter bar test rig consisting of a main frame, cutter bar assembly, power transmission system, variable speed drive and load measuring set up was developed to measure the force required for cutting the finger millet crop. The load measuring set up comprises of a load cell and a load indicator. The average cutting force required for harvesting finger millet crop was observed as kg. The result obtained was validated using a pendulum test rig. | Development of reciprocating cutter bar test rig for measurement of cutting force of finger millets
