Effect of Crop Geometry, Cutter Speed and Forward Speed on Performance Characteristics of Tractor Operated Forage Harvester-cum-Chopper

Tractor operated disc type forage harvester-cum-chopper was evaluated in maize fodder to determine its performance characteristics considering crop geometry (single row and paired row), cutter speed (95 and 105 rpm) and forward speed (1.70, 2.30 and 3.30 km/h) as three independent parameters and throughput capacity (t/h), harvesting efficiency (%), height of cut (cm), loss of moisture content (%), chopping size (cm) and fuel consumption (l/h) as dependent parameters. Data collected during the study was statistically analyzed using factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) to see the effect of independent variables on dependent variables. Further, the field operation parameters were selected on the basis of ranking across the different parameters. Ranks were determined on the basis of weighted means and weights to selected dependent parameters were assigned using the expert opinion method. After finding the weighted means of all the 12 options the most suitable combination of field operation independent parameters were found to operate the machine at 3.3 km/h with cutter speed of 95 rpm in paired row crop.