Tested harvester on a half-track, which reliably removes corn even on wet soils

With the exception of the last two years, our crops lacked moisture. It's bad for growing, but good for harvesting. However, not all regions have the same situation. In the Vitebsk region, where heavy loamy soils, water after rains goes slowly, which sometimes creates difficulties with threshing. In addition, the area of corn is increased by grain, which is harvested in late autumn. Fields at this time are often moistened, which was confirmed this year. Therefore, farmers want such harvesting equipment, which would not be afraid of raw, with puddles of fields. The designers of Gomselmash OJSC met them and created a grain harvester on a semi-track. The place of testing of the new machine when harvesting corn for grain was OJSC "New Goryany" Polotsk district. Last week, Prime Minister Alexander Turchin familiarized himself with the work of its and other harvesting units in the farm. The SG journalist was convinced that this is really the harvester that is needed.

I am going to OJSC “New Gorians” together with the Deputy Chairman of the District Executive Committee – Head of the Department for Agriculture and Food Inga Kozlova. Along the way, I wonder why I chose this farm. It turned out that it had to meet two requirements: watered fields to test the permeability, and a relatively high yield of corn per grain to assess the performance of the machine in difficult conditions. This is exactly what New Gorians came up with.

- During the week, we held three seminars with the participation of this harvester for managers and specialists of various levels, said Inga Kozlova. Specially left for them lowered areas so that they could make sure that the harvester works effectively in difficult conditions. Personally, I have the impression that he travels on any field like on asphalt.

We're coming to the field. I climb into the cockpit of the new harvester to Igor Sodylev, a test driver at the Gomselmash Research and Technology Center, who starts the engine with confident movements and starts driving. The reaper eats the corn. The driver looks closely at the crops. The left hand on the steering wheel, directs the reaper exactly along the rows, the right - on the joystick, regulates the speed and height of the cut of corn. The first minutes move on the usual flat field, where there is no overhydration. But the new harvester has a different purpose. Inga Kozlova told Igor Sodylev that his task is to remove all the moistened scraps, where ordinary harvesters will not enter.

- Can we go to this place? – I asked the driver.

- Of course, this is the main feature of the tests: to check how the machine works in adverse conditions, on dirt and puddles.

We come to a part of the field, where the soil is not yet visible, but it can already be called moistened from the rains. During the threshing of the corn, I did not feel the difference with the usual field. Driver confirms:

- The harvester on a half-track course moved, as before, as if on a summer dry field.

And then finally we see a decent puddle on the field.

- Maybe stop, prepare to overcome it? - I suggest the tester.

- Why? he laughs. We will pass it as quietly as the previous section.

What would become of an ordinary wheeled combine?

- First I'd fall into the ground, stall, pull back, move forward. And then just stopped and would be helplessly motionless until the tractor comes and pulls it out. - I've seen this before. And my half-track harvester runs through puddles like they never existed.

Nearby we see a saucer of water smaller than ours, which previously tried to overcome a conventional harvester. That it ended unsuccessfully, testified to the deep ruts from the wheels of the harvesting unit and tractor.

- It's okay, the driver reassures. We paraphrase the famous proverb as follows: “Water to fear, technique not to test”. Look what happens.

We walk on the water as if we were on a ship. Here an ordinary harvester would stop in advance, without even trying to overcome the difficult area.

I thought I had passed the worst obstacle. But the driver said it was worse. In confirmation of his words, he took out a smartphone and showed pictures. On them, unlike the “swamp” we overcame, there was something like a “lake”.

- First, this does not happen, explains Igor Sodylev. And, of course, no one will go to a real ditch. There's a reasonable limit.

At the same time, he added an important detail: for all the time of the tests, despite any water obstacles, the combine never got stuck.

Getting out of the cockpit. On the edge of the field I meet the leading engineer-designer of the testing center of the STC Combine Engineering OJSC Gomselmash Vyacheslav Yarosevich.

Why isn't this harvester stuck in the mud? Compared to the wheel, the area of contact with the soil has tripled. So, the pressure of the machine on the ground decreased by the same amount, explained Vyacheslav Yarosevich. It doesn’t fall where the wheel does. And the new model has leading not only front, but also rear wheels. They, popularly speaking, push the car in difficult places.

- And why did they follow the path of half-tracks, and not create a universal harvester with the possibility of using both a wheel and a full caterpillar.

- This is impossible, explained the designer. A full-fledged tracked course has a different control system, which cannot be combined with a guide rear axle. We once created a harvester on a purely caterpillar course. It is used by countries with constant soil moisture, for example, for rice harvesting. It didn't catch on in Belarus. And this half-track is good in that it overcomes all obstacles, like the caterpillar, but with greater performance and moves faster. And most importantly, it can be converted into a normal wheeled combine in one and a half to two hours.

At the edge of the field and the chief agronomist of OJSC "New Gorians" Sergey Demidenok.

- Soils in the farm are heavy loams, he said. Moisture stagnates, especially in late autumn. The corn for grain is removed by five combine harvesters. Four wheels on wetlands knit and stop. The half-track doesn't matter.

We have wet fields, especially in autumn, not only in the Vitebsk region, but also in other regions. Can the problem be solved nationwide?

After returning from the farm, I call Gomselmash OJSC. Deputy General Director for Technical Issues – Chief Engineer Victor Pinchuk says that machine builders are ready to meet farmers and meet their needs in such equipment.

gedroiz@sb.by