Combine, tractor, and grain truck harvest sugar beets.

Sugar beet equipment is used to harvest, clean, receive, and store beetroots, which, along with sugarcane, provide more than 70 million tons of sugar to the world annually.^[1] The bulk of this work is accomplished using a sugar beet harvester, which is a large combine that tops, lifts, and cleans beetroots. Working in tandem with this harvester is receiving equipment to further clean the beets, in addition to piling and moving them in large volumes.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Hand Harvesting and Receiving 1.2 Early Mechanization of Harvesting 1.3 Mechanization of Receiving Methods 1.4 The First Pilers 1.5 The First Successful Harvester 1.6 John Deere Harvesters 1.7 International Harvester’s Offerings 2 Features/How it Works 2.1 Modern Harvesters 2.2 Disc Coulter 2.3 Topping 2.4 Lifting 2.5 Cleaning and Elevating 2.6 Self-propelled Harvesters 2.7 Multi-row Harvesters 2.8 Modern Receiving Equipment 2.9 Cleaning 2.10 Piling 3 Common Manufacturers 4 References 5 Additional Resources

[edit] History

[edit] Hand Harvesting and Receiving

Early sugar beet harvesting was accomplished by hand. This process, including digging, topping, windrowing, and forking the beets into a truck required approximately 60 man-hours per acre (0.4 ha).^[2] Hand-harvested roots were lifted by horse-drawn apparatuses, and transported in horse-drawn wagons to receiving stations to be forked into rail cars. Later, high line stations came into use. In this process, wagons ascended a long ramp, at the top of which the beetroots were tipped out of a side-loading wagon. This was accomplished with cables and a winch attached to the wagon. With the dawn of World War II, and a resulting shortage in workers able to do these tedious and arduous tasks, mechanization was needed.

[edit] Early Mechanization of Harvesting

The mechanization of sugar beet harvesting was carried out over a ten-year span.^[3] One of the first machines, for example, was the Scott-Urschel single-row harvester developed in Columbus Ohio. Engineer Ernest M. Mervine demonstrated this machine, which had a 35 to 50 ton daily capacity, in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1936.^[4] Though advancements were made during that period, the most progress was made between 1945 and 1949, thanks to machines promoted by the Beet Sugar Development Foundation, formed by various sugar companies. By 1949 the proportion of harvesting carried out mechanically had risen to 52 percent, from seven percent in 1945. By 1952 mechanization had basically completely replaced hand-harvesting methods.^[5] Due to their soft and workable soils, most of the early progress was made in regions such as Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah.

[edit] Mechanization of Receiving Methods

With the mechanization of harvesting came a similar advancement in receiving methods. Where horse-drawn wagons were once used, trucks began to take over, as they could accommodate the faster and more abundant machine-driven harvests. Additionally, with the apparition of more outside railroad receiving stations, sugar beets could be grown further from the factories. One of the first developments in receiving equipment was a movable piler able to clean and pile beets in large volumes.

[edit] The First Pilers

Early pilers, located in direct rail receiving stations, required a truck carrying two to four tons to drive onto a platform next to a hopper. With the use of cables, the truck would then be tipped and the roots would fall into the hopper. From there, they were elevated to a cleaning screen. Once cleaned, the beets were either dumped into a railroad car for transportation, or moved onto a swinging boom, which moved in a semicircle motion, to be placed in storage piles. The beets that were piled were later loaded into rail cars by cranes and transported to processing facilities when the factory could accommodate them.

[edit] The First Successful Harvester

Californians A.M. Jongeneel, and E.F. Blackwelder of the Blackwelder Engineering Works developed one of the first successful North American sugar beet harvesters.^[6] This machine, a one- or two-row harvester particularly effective in dry soil, included a wheel six feet (1.8 m) in diameter outfitted with a series of slightly curved spikes to pierce beetroots. As the machine moved along the rows, the beetroots were lifted to the top of the harvester where their roots and tops were separated by large discs. A chain conveyor then loaded the roots into a truck traveling next to the harvester; the tops were discarded.

[edit] John Deere Harvesters

By 1943 there were 32 John Deere one-row harvesters being operated east of the Rocky Mountains.^[7] These harvesters were comprised of two units, the first of which topped 10 to 12 rows of beetroots, then conveying the tops and roots into windrows. The second unit picked up the roots, and lifted them into a truck. Five years after their debut, 2,600 John Deere single-row harvesters were available in models 54 and 54A.

[edit] International Harvester’s Offerings

The year 1943 was also when International Harvester entered the sugar beet market. The company’s first experimental machine was, like John Deere’s harvesters, a two-unit machine. The first unit was responsible for topping the beets in the ground, while the second unit lifted and elevated the product into a hydraulic hopper running alongside. This hopper, with a capacity of 1,200 pounds (544 kg), tipped the beetroots onto a conveyor-loader, where they would be sorted by hand from intermixed dirt clods and trash. IH later improved their harvesters with the development of single-unit machines, and by 1949, approximately 2,700 International Harvester machines were in use.^[8]

[edit] Features/How it Works

[edit] Modern Harvesters

Sugar beet harvesters today are available in one- to six-row sizes, and can harvest up to 20 to 24 acres (8.1 to 9.7 ha) per day in good conditions. Some of the largest models are capable of harvesting 500 tons in 10 hours.^[9] Today’s machines are hydraulic and include grab roll screens, which remove dirt clods and rocks, as well as row finders. In some areas, beetroot harvesting is performed 24 hours a day, with two or more crews working in shifts to operate harvesting machinery.^[10]

Harvesting machines are either power take-off driven, or self-propelled. The latter machines comprise built-in self-unloading tanks, eliminating the need for an additional tractor or trailer for transportation of the beets. Regardless of the unloading method, the harvesting procedure always generally entails topping and lifting the beets to be moved for processing, and is carried out using several components.

[edit] Disc Coulter

Commonly, sugar beet harvesters include a flat or concave disc coulter. Running ahead of the topping unit, the coulter clears leaves and other material from the path of the topping knife to prevent any blockage.

[edit] Topping

Topping a sugar beet is necessary, as the leafy tops, often used for livestock feed, must be separated from the valuable roots. Beets must be topped in such a way that the entire crown of green leaves is removed. The modern topping mechanism, normally driven by one of the harvester’s land wheels, is comprised of a spring-loaded feeler and a horizontal knife. The spring is necessary in order to enable the topper to float over the crop, allowing the feeler wheel to rise and fall with the heights of the beet. Adjusting the tension on the spring enables the feeler wheel either to press heavily or lightly on the crop. On bulky beet tops, the spring’s tension should be reduced so the feeler wheel’s weight can be applied to the beet, helping to hold it in position while the knife tops the crown. The knife can be raised and lowered; the clearance between the knife and the feeler wheel determines how the beet will be topped.

Once a row of beets is topped, the leftover material must be moved away so that the tops are not lifted with the roots. This is accomplished with the use of a flail device, positioned at the back of the topping device or directly before the lifter. The flail consists of a chain- or power-driven steel disc with rubber flails that sweep across a row and flick sugar beet crowns from a row.

[edit] Lifting

Harvesters are outfitted with a lifting device in the form of steel shares, positioned ahead of the main elevator. These shares enable the beets, after being removed from the soil, to pass directly onto the elevator. By pressing the soil downward at the sides of the sugar beets, allowing the beet to rise up the shares and onto the elevator.

When lifting shares are not employed, a pair of large metal wheels is used to squeeze the beet from the ground. These wheels in this device, known as Oppel wheels, are placed approximately in the same position as the lifting shares would be. Additionally, the Oppel wheels rotate in order to assist the tractor pulling the harvester.

[edit] Cleaning and Elevating

A typical method to remove clinging soil from a lifted beet is to use agitating devices. While a beet is being elevated, the agitation of the open-type elevating web causes the beet to bounce, shedding its dirt through the web and back onto the field. Alternatively, a harvester can be outfitted with a stationary web positioned above a moving elevator. As a result, the beet rolls between the two units and up the elevator, being scrubbed by the elevator links. Once the beets are cleaned and elevated, they are dropped onto a cross elevator, to be moved into a trailer moving beside the harvester, or, in the case of a tanker model, into the harvester’s tank.

[edit] Self-propelled Harvesters

As mentioned, several types of self-propelled sugar beet harvesters are available. These models include tanks ranging in capacity from 2,204 to 7,716 pounds (1,000 to 3,500 kg).^[11] The weight of these powerful, high-output machines when carrying a load of beets often makes it difficult to travel through wet soil, limiting their production capabilities.

[edit] Multi-row Harvesters

Occasionally, the sugar beet harvesting operating makes use of more than one machine. For example, one unit might top several rows of beetroots, while another unit lifts and windrows the topped rows. A third machine would then be used to elevate the windrow into a trailer.

[edit] Modern Receiving Equipment

The receiving equipment available today can load or pile large truckloads of beetroots every few minutes, typically 250 tons an hour, resulting in 5,000 to 6,000 tons of beets per day.^[12] These machines include large cleaning devices to carry out a secondary cleaning of the roots, as the harvester may not have cleaned all foreign materials from the beets.

[edit] Cleaning

The most popular type of cleaning screen today, known as the grab roll screen,^[13] is comprised of a slanting row of scrolled and smooth rolls. These rolls, perpendicular to the travel direction of the beets, turn at different speeds; scrolled rolls turn faster than smooth rolls. Beets are bounced and rolled, being scrubbed clean as a result; dirt and other foreign material is sucked through the rolls and collected into a hopper.

[edit] Piling

Today’s high-speed pilers, comprised of long booms, are able to make piles of sugar beets over 200 feet (61 m) wide at the base, and over 20 feet (6.1 m) high. These massive piles generally contain between 70,000 and 90,000 tons of beets.^[14] Today’s receiving stations have several movable pilers located within them, and can accommodate large quantities of beets. Additionally, some receiving stations have stationary belt systems and conveyors to pile or store large volumes of beets in bins.

[edit] Common Manufacturers

• Alloway
• Amity
• Artsway
• Parma
• Wic

[edit] References

1. ↑ Theis, Thomas. "A Food Resource”. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 3 – 18.
2. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
3. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
4. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
5. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
6. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
7. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
8. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
9. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
10. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
11. ↑ Shippen, J.M. and Ellin, C.R. and Clover, C.H. Basic Farm Machinery. Pergamon Press Ltd: 1980.
12. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
13. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.
14. ↑ Bass, Stewart and Smith, P.B. “Harvesting and Delivery. Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices. Russell T. Johnson, John T. Alexander, George E. Rush, George R. Hawkes, ed. The Iowa State University Press: 1971. p. 383 – 399.

[edit] Additional Resources

• Bell, Brian. Fifty Years of Farm Machinery: from Starting Handle to Microchip. Farming Press Books and Videos: 1993.
• Culpin, Claude. Farm Machinery. Granada Publishing Limited: 1981.