An Electro-hydraulic Height Control System for Sugarcane Basecutters

Abstract: Sugarcane basecutting quality is an important index to evaluate the harvester performance. In the harvesting process, the cutting quality is affected by the uneven ground, which would lead to stubble damage and sugar loss. Therefore, an electric-hydraulic control system for controlling the basecutting height was developed to address these issues. In this system, an angle sensor was used to detect the cutting height by measuring the swing angle of the profiling device. To evaluate the performance of this control system, a series of cutting experiments were conducted on a mobile cutting platform. Forward speed (1, 2, 3 km/h), ground wavelength (1,2 ,3 m) and ground amplitude (4, 8, 12 cm), were selected as influencing factors. The experimental results showed that the average cutting depth variation coefficient was 5.65%, 9.12% and 12.1% respectively when the forward speed was 1, 2 and 3 km / h, and the accuracy of the control system was ± 1cm. Therefore, the control system can be used in the under-the-ground basecutting, to improve the cutting quality of sugarcane harvester basecutter.