Bean crop is generally harvested in two steps in Brazil. In the first one the product is manually pulled out and in the second stage the product is picked-up, threshed and cleaned using a bean harvester. The harvesters are generally tractor pulled. The design optimization of these machines has been done by trial and error. In this paper, a simulation model is presented to analyze the dynamic performance of a tractor-harvester system for beans. A simulation model was developed using ADAMS version 10.0. The model includes tractor simulation and a soil/tyre interface, a power train and threshing and cleaning systems of the bean harvester. Finally, the dynamic performance of the tractor-harvester system for beans was evaluated using two modeling conditions. Comparing actual and simulated data, under the best conditions, the mean relative errors of 8.18, 5.85, 28.69 and 26.23%, respectively, for the forward speed, PTO rotational speed, PTO required torque and PTO required power were found. In another simulation condition, the mean relative error of 4.99% for the total feeding rate was observed.
ADAMS; harvest; modeling
