Design and test of a wheel-belt type cotton stalk puller

During the harvesting process, rigid materials are prone to causing damage to the cotton stalks, which will increase the risk of stalk breakage. A cotton stalk pulling component that blends stiff and flexible materials was devised to lower the breaking rate. The cotton stalk pulling component was made up of rollers and flexible belts that pull the stalks using clamping force and the forward speed of the tractor. The influence of various factors in the equipment on the harvesting effect of cotton stalks were analyzed through response surface experiments, and a multiple quadratic regression response surface model with missing pulling rate and breakage rate as response values was established. The significant of influencing factors on the breaking rate of cotton stalks are in a descending order as: the angle of cotton stalk pulling, tractor’s forward speed, and the clamping speed of the cotton stalk component. The working parameters of the wheel-belt type cotton stalk pulling machine have been optimized using the response surface combination experimental method, and the optimal parameter combination was obtained as: tractor forward speed of 4.5 km/h, cotton stalk pulling angle of 60°, and clamping speed of the cotton stalk pulling component of 349 r/min. The results of validation experiments showed that the missing pulling rate of cotton stalks was 5.06% and the breakage rate was 13.12%, indicating a good harvesting effect of the cotton stalks. The model was reasonable and the performance parameters could meet the relevant inspection requirements. The results can provide a reference for further research on the technology of flexible cotton stalk pulling.