DESIGN AND EXPERIMENT OF COTTON STALKS PULLING DEVICE WITH NON-FLAT TOOTHED DISCS

Efficient cotton stalk recycling is crucial for agricultural sustainability. Traditional manual removal methods suffer from low efficiency and high labor intensity. Existing mechanical harvesters face limitations such as low removal rates, high stalk breakage rates, and significant omission rates. To address these challenges, this study focuses on optimizing a self-developed multi-row disc-type stalk puller. The conventional flat disc was redesigned into an obliquely angled disc with a bending angle. This 3D curved design enhances stalk constraint capability, thereby improving gripping stability and lifting height. A kinematic model was developed using the ADAMS dynamics simulation platform, revealing the relationships between motion trajectories and key structural parameters. Parametric analysis quantified the effects of disc diameter and bending angle on lifting height and working width. A three-factor, three-level orthogonal experimental design was implemented to evaluate the influence of speed ratio, disc diameter, and disc inclination on three performance indicators: removal rate (Y1), breakage rate (Y2), and omission rate (Y3). The results showed that for Y1 and Y3, the primary influencing factors, in order of importance, were: disc diameter > bending angle > speed ratio; for Y2, the order was: speed ratio > bending angle > disc diameter. The optimal parameter combination was determined to be: 600 mm disc diameter, 20° bending angle, and 0.7 speed ratio. Field tests achieved a pull-out rate of 95.7%, a breakage rate of 3.2%, and an omission rate of 1.1%. These findings provide both theoretical and technical support for enhancing the efficiency of mechanized cotton stalk harvesting.