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2026 Vol.38, Issue 3 Preview Page

Research Article

Performance Evaluation of a Double-Conveyor-Type Sweet-Potato Harvester under Different Soil Textures
Jinho Won1
,
Jung-Yeon Seo1
,
Jeongju Chae1
,
Sun-Bin Min1
,
Dae Cheol Kim23*
,
Yongjin Cho23*
1Graduate student, Department of Bioindustrial Machinery Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
2Professor, Department of Bioindustrial Machinery Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
3Professor, Institute for Agricultural Machinery & ICT Convergence, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
*Corresponding Author
30 September 2026. pp. 252-268
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Abstract

This study evaluated the performance of a double-conveyor-type sweet-potato harvester under three different soil conditions. The harvester was designed with dimensions of 3,030 mm × 1,880 mm × 1,200 mm (L × W × H) and fitted with a 500-mm digging blade. To minimize mechanical damage to the sweet-potato skin during conveying, rubber padding was added to the conveyor chain, and a rubber guide was installed at the rear of the conveying unit to facilitate smooth collection and reduce further damage. In addition, a V-shaped blade was designed and installed at the drop point to prevent stems from entering the harvester during harvesting. To evaluate its performance, the developed harvester was compared with four conventional sweet-potato harvesters. The tractor operating conditions were set at a travel speed of 1 km/h and a PTO rotational speed of 540 rpm. At the Yeoju test field, the developed harvester achieved a digging ratio of 96.4% and a damage ratio of 21.8%. At the Gimje test field, the digging and damage ratios were 99.1% and 36.4%, respectively. At the Haenam test field, the digging and damage ratios were 89.6% and 12.6%, respectively.

Keywords
Damage ratio
Digging ratio
Soil texture
Sweet potato
Sweet-potato harvester
References
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Information
  • Publisher :Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Institute, Kangwon National University
  • Publisher(Ko) :None
  • Journal Title :Journal of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences
  • Volume : 38
  • No :3
  • Pages :252-268
  • Received Date : 2026-05-04
  • Revised Date : 2026-06-19
  • Accepted Date : 2026-06-24
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.22698/jales.20260017
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