Ajuste do freio dos vibradores na colheita mecanizada do café em lavouras com diferentes manejos

Abstract

The harvest must be considered as one of the most important operations of the coffee production system due to its high cost, great demand of labor and direct impact over product quality. In this sense, the present work aimed at verifying the effect of the brake adjustment of the vibrating cylinders over the efficiency of seed dropping, based on the quantification of power that generates torque in the cylinder. The experiment was conducted at the Ouro Verde Farm, located in the municipality of Campos Altos, Western Minas Gerais, Brazil, performed during the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 harvests, at two different periods within each harvest, as well as in two different crop conditions in the second season (with and without rejuvenation pruning), being the crop formed by the Catuai 62 1-A cultivar. In the assays, we used the randomized blocks experimental design with three replicates, in random plots containing 14 plants. The results show that the brake adjustment of the vibrating cylinders has direct influence over the efficiency of seed drooping. The highest levels of defoliation were obtained with the vibration 15.83 Hz. We can determine that the best configuration for the Harvester, in both crop conditions, is of 9 kgf of power, 1.6 km h -1 of operation velocity and vibration of 15.83 Hz, also being possible to conclude that the regulation recommendations of the Harvester can be the same wither with or without rejuvenation pruning.