Effects of Machine and Operational Parameters on Performance of Motorised Paddy Thresher Suitable for Hills

Abstract

Prototype of a portable motorised paddy thresher suitable for hills was evaluated for its performance in terms of its threshing efficiency (%), grain damage (%), and output capacity (kg.h-1) at various levels of threshing cylinder diameter (300, 350, 400 mm), cylinder speed (300, 400, 500 rpm), and input feed bundle weight (1, 1.5, 2 kg). Criteria of optimisation were maximizing threshing efficiency, minimizing grain damage, and maximizing output capacity. The optimised combination of operating parameters for the prototype were threshing cylinder diameter of 400 mm, cylinder speed of 500 rpm, and input feed of 1 kg paddy (variety: Basmati-370) resulted in grain damage of less than 1%, germination count of more than 80%, and threshing efficiency of 98.65 per cent.