How does a Combine Harvester work?

 In the era of hi-tech technology where everything is done using machines and technology, a combine harvester is one of the important and largest farm equipment in the world. This versatile farm machinery is mainly 4 machines-in-one and performs a variety of functions in the field such as reaping, threshing, and winnowing, etc.

Modern combine machines are capable of cutting a swath more than 40 feet wide across a field.

How does a Combine Harvester work?

A combine harvester has 4 parts which are called the header, the rotor, the sieves, and the chopper. Each of its parts performs an important function to complete the entire harvesting process in no time.

1. First, come the Header and feeder parts which are an initial step in the process for crop moving in to combine. The header cuts the crop off the ground and moves it into the machine. The header is the main feature of any combine and its settings depend on the type of crop you are harvesting.

2. Once the crop is cut, it is then pushed toward the center of the machine with the help of spinning augers, and the crop travel to the conveyor.

3. In the threshing part of the machine, the threshing drum beats the crop to separate the grain kernels from their stalks. The separated grain then travels through the sieves to a grain tank located on the back of the combine while the unwanted chaff and stalks travel along the conveyer towards the back of the combine and tumble out through the straw hopper.  

4. Once the grain tank gets full, the grain is then taken up by an elevator from the tank and gets unloaded onto a grain cart or truck.

Benefits of Using Combine Harvester

Combine harvesters are one of the most economically effective labor-saving innovations in the modern century, substantially reducing the fraction of the population engaged in agriculture.

It operates in such a way that our time and human efforts are reduced. Here are some of the benefits of using a combine harvester:-

1. In a single-phase, Combine carries out multiple farming operations and efficiently reduces the efforts and time of the farmers that they spend in the field. Field operations such as reaping, threshing, and winnowing, etc all can be done just using a single combine machine.

2. The agricultural field can be available for the use of the next crop within a short period due to the rapid harvesting process. As a result of which the possibility of different crop production increases within the period.

3. Also, a combine machine helps in preserving the quality of the harvested crop because it is not compromised by any natural and biological activity.

4. Combine helps in reducing the grain loss by efficiently cutting and separating grains skilfully from the plants which are often not possible by manual methods and thus helps in increasing profitability with less grain loss and damage.

5. The machine can be used on a variety of terrains including dry and wet. Combine harvesters can be quite convenient to wade through fields submerged with water such as rice fields.