*2.2. Bar Elevator with Asymmetric Shakers*

Due to the fact that the technology of growing potatoes differs from onion crops in-depth, their patterns of planting, tillage, and, accordingly, the depth of digging during harvesting also differ. This is due to the fact that when onion ripens, more than 1/2 of the bulb is located on the soil surface, which contributes to the ripening, the formation of a good shirt, and facilitates mechanized harvesting while reducing the flow of soil impurities to the separating working bodies, which is a distinctive feature of potato harvesting, since the tuber nest is located at a digging depth of 15–20 cm and, together with marketable products, a large amount of the soil provides impurities.

Therefore, to intensify the process of separating the potato tubers from the soil impurities, separation intensifiers with an asymmetric arrangement of shakers are installed in the separating system of the harvester (Figure 4).

**Figure 4.** Scheme of separating rod elevator: 1—frame; 2—rod elevator; 3, 4—branches of rod elevator; 5—leading roller; 6—support roller; 7—driven roller; 8—elliptical shaker; 9—driven roller shaft; and 10—the mechanism for regulating vertical movement.

The separating rod elevator with asymmetrically installed passive elliptical shakers (RF patent No. 2638190) and with an adjustable angle of the rod elevator provides a reduction in the damage to and an increase in the quality of the separated products. This is as a result of reducing the effect of the vertical component of the gravity of the roots and bulbs to a minimum, as well as increasing the uniformity of the distribution of a pile of root crops and bulbs along the separating surface, when the angle α of the inclination of the rod elevator changes as a result of the changes in soil and climatic conditions for harvesting root crops, onions, and potatoes [17].

The separating conveyor of the machine for harvesting root crops, onions, and potatoes (Figure 4) contains a bar elevator (2) mounted on frame (1), undersides (3), and branches of a rod elevator (4), of which a leading roller (5) is installed, and support (6) and driven (7) rollers are mounted on a frame (1).

The results of field studies on the developed machine for harvesting potatoes of the Red Scarlett variety obtained dependencies that determined the performance indicators for the completeness of the cleaning and damage to tubers in the conditions of Krasnaya Gorka LLC in 2022.

The studies were carried out after the desiccation of the tops of a potato plant, with its subsequent removal on medium sandy soils at a moisture content along the entire length of the accounting plot, within 18–22%.

When conducting research within the conditions of the above farms to determine the quality indicators of harvesting, with a duration of harvesting an area of 0.1 ha, the bulbs and tubers were sorted into intact and damaged.

The damaged bulbs/tubers included products with slight and severe damage caused by machine harvesting.

Light damage to the bulbs/tubers includes:


The damage to the bulbs/tubers was determined by the formula:

$$P = \frac{\text{G}\_{\text{P}}}{\text{G}\_{\text{CT}} - \text{G}\_{\text{P}}} \cdot 100\%\_{\text{\textdegree}\_{\text{\textdegree}}} \tag{1}$$

where

GP—the weight of the damaged standard bulbs/tubers in a heap, kg; GСТ—the mass of the separated bulbs/tubers in a heap, kg.

The completeness of the separation of a heap of onions/tubers was determined by the formula:

$$\mathbf{v} = \frac{\mathbf{v}\_{\text{P}}^{\text{I}} - \mathbf{v}\_{\text{P}}^{\text{K}}}{\mathbf{v}\_{\text{P}}^{\text{I}}} \cdot 100\%\_{\text{\textdegree}} \tag{2}$$

where

νI <sup>P</sup>—the mass of the soil impurities in the initial heap, kg;

νK <sup>P</sup>—the mass of the soil impurities in the container (non-isolated impurities), kg.

The quality of the harvester was determined as follows.

At the beginning of the accounting plot, with the non-stop movement of the harvesting unit, on a signal, a tarpaulin was placed under the separating rod elevator, into which the entire harvested mass was collected.

In the process of passing the plot, a tarpaulin was unwound behind the machine, onto which a heap fell after the separation.

Next, samples were taken from the surface of the tarpaulin from the entire territory of the accounting plot. At the same time, the fractional composition of the heap was determined, which took into account: the bulbs/tubers, the free soil, and the soil associated with the bulbs/tubers.

#### *2.3. Research Processing Methods*

The reliability of the obtained data is ensured by the methods of mathematical processing and statistical analysis used for the research results and multivariate analysis, which included the use of licensed mathematical software packages for PC: "Microsoft Excel", "STATISTICA-10.0", "Math CAD 2020".

At the same time, the concepts and elements generally accepted in variation statistics that characterize the variation series were used: the average variation—X, the standard deviation—σ, and the coefficient of variation—ν. Each of the main elements was determined according to the known formulas of variation statistics.

This made it possible to determine the accuracy of the experimental data and establish the acceptable limits within which they are sufficiently reliable.

To determine the number of intervals (K) for the varying values of the parameters of the size–mass characteristics of the tubers, we will use the empirical relationship:

$$\mathbf{K} = \sqrt{\mathbf{n}},\tag{3}$$

where n = number of tubers, pcs; and <sup>К</sup> <sup>=</sup> √100 = 10.

The sampling range:

$$\mathbf{R} = \mathbf{x} \mathbf{m} \mathbf{a} \mathbf{x} - \mathbf{x} \mathbf{m} \mathbf{n},\tag{4}$$

where xmax and xmin are the maximum and minimum values of the investigated feature. The interval of the investigated feature:

$$\mathbf{D} = \mathbf{R}/\mathbf{K}.\tag{5}$$
