CHOOSING A REASONABLE GRIP WIDTH OF ROTARY RAKES WITH CONTROLLED RAKES

It is advisable to use rotary rakes with controlled rakes for raking hay in the windrows. On the agricultural machinery market of Ukraine, foreign companies offer models of rotary rakes with controlled rakes, which differ in the width of the grip from 2.8 to 14.0 m, the number of rotors and other features. This creates difficulties in choosing a rake with a rational width of grip. It is possible to choose the rational width of the rake, based on the estimated volume of hay harvesting in the farm and operational costs of money for the performance of mechanized work. It is obvious that with a rational grip width of the rake, operating costs will be minimal. The purpose of the work is to reduce operating costs when harvesting hay by developing an algorithm for choosing a rational rake width with controlled rakes. It was established that the given operating costs for hay raking decrease as the width of the catch increases from 3 to 6 m. At a width of 5-7 m, the minimum values are taken, and with further growth, the width of the grip increases. This is explained by the fact that with a small grip width of rakes, they have low productivity, which leads to relatively high operating costs. The increase in specific operating costs with a width of more than 6 m is associated with an increase in the cost of the rake. In order to reduce the cost of hay, it is advisable to use a rake with a width of 5 to 7 m for its raking. The necessary width of the rake can also be selected based on the estimated amount of hay harvested. Graphical dependences of the change in standard rake production (product of productivity per standard annual loading) on the width of the grip were obtained. It has been established that under the condition of one-time use of a rake with a grip width of 7 m, it will allow harvesting from 2,500 to 2,800 tons of hay per year.