Brazil is the world's largest sugarcane producer. The mechanized harvest became necessary for the modern times but losses of 10 - 15% are frequent when the sugarcane is harvested green. The knockdown and the basecutter are responsible for damages in the stalk and stool. The harvester cuts the cane at its base by an impact using a rotating disk with multiple blades. The alternative for the impact cut is the slicing cut. The influence of the type of blades (forward and backward) and the pitch of serration (3 and 7 mm) in the presence of a flection moment caused by the action of the knockdown roller was studied. One standard blade was used as a reference and four replications were used for each type of cut. An experiment was conducted using a factorial design with two kinds of blades and two pitches of serration. The damages caused in the sugarcane and the energy spent on each type of cut were compared. The forward blade with serrated pitch of 3 mm presented the best result.
sugarcane harvesters; basecutter; serrated blades
