Development of Mini Tractor Operated Hydraulic Powered Sugarcane Leaf De-trasher

This research developed and optimized a hydraulic-powered, mini tractor operated adjustable sugarcane leaf de-trasher to address the inefficiencies and safety hazards associated with manual de-trashing in sugarcane cultivation. The system, powered by a tractor’s power take-off, incorporates a bi-directional rotation of hydraulic motor and hydraulic linear actuator that enable height adjustments ranging from 0 to 450 mm, adapting to different stages of crop growth. A factorial completely randomized design with experimental setups investigated the effects of roller speed (8, 10, 12 m s⁻¹), forward speed (0.7 m s⁻¹ (2.5 km h⁻¹) and 1.4 m s⁻¹ (5.0 km h⁻¹)), and de-trashing height (300 and 600 mm). The study identified optimal operational parameters—roller speed of 8 m s⁻¹ and de-trashing height of 600 mm with forward speed of 0.7 m s⁻¹ (2.5 km h⁻¹) that achieved the highest de-trashing efficiency of 87%, while minimizing cane damage to 1–1.5%. Power consumption was significantly influenced by these variables, with higher values recorded at roller speeds of 12 m s⁻¹ and different heights, reaching approximately 3.0 kW. These results highlight a significant reduction in time, operational cost, and labour by 70%, 54%, and 88%, respectively.