Three-link harvesting technology with the application of grain transfer trailers

Three-link harvesting with the application of grain transfer trailers is the main system used for harvesting in countries with developed agriculture. The practice showed that the application of grain transfer trailers at harvesting increases the productivity of harvesting machinery by 35% at an average rate.

In this event, a harvesting link comprises three machinery units: a combine harvester – a grain transfer trailer – a lorry. The bin acts as a grain buffer in the field: it receives threshed grain from combines, delivers it to the edge of the field and loads it into a motor-vehicle.

The peculiarity of such method of harvesting organisation is that grain is unloaded from a combine into a grain transfer trailer “on the go” – without interrupting the threshing process and such a “buffer” can receive threshed grain from 2-3 combines at once.

To reach the optimal technological effect the machinery shall be lined up in such a way that the receiving tanks of all three machines are divisible. In this event, a lorry does not need to stay for a long time, and a lorry loaded with grain moves to a warehouse, while a grain transfer trailer returns to a stint to receive the new batch of threshed grain.

Grain transfer trailers are equipped with a weight-checking system allowing to control the volumes of the harvested grain from the field to a threshing floor online.The harvesting process is transparent and more manageable. Besides, the weight-checking allows to use the right motivation of combine operators: each machine operator is paid in accordance with its personal indicators of the harvested grain.

Three-link harvesting technology has a range of serious advantages before two-link:

1. Downtime of harvesting machinery is excluded.

As a rule, such problem exists in 100% cases because of the difference between working cycles of a combine harvester and motor-vehicle. A grain transfer trailer neutralizes this effect leveling time differences. This factor directly proportionally influences upon productivity increasing.

2. The loss of time because of non-profile operations is excluded. In this event, such operations are:

• the transportation of the threshed grain to the edge of the field by a combine harvester;
• unloading into a lorry;
• return of a combine into the stint;
• driving a grain transporter to the field to receive the threshed grain from a combine.

In all specified events the following main functions are interrupted: for a combine – threshing, for motor vehicles – transportation of the harvested grain to a threshing floor.

3. Periods of harvesting are reduced.

4. The problem of grain shattering due to the extended harvesting campaign is resolved.

5. The soil is preserved from preconsolidation because motor-vehicles are out of the field.