Computer Aided Design and Development of a Tractor Operated Cotton Header

Cotton is an important commercial crop of India, having 12.81 M ha cultivated area that is the largest in the World. In India 100% of the cotton is harvested manually. Cotton can be harvested mechanically by commercially available cotton pickers (the most commonly used) or cotton strippers, which remove all the cotton bolls. A conceptual design of 3 row finger type cotton header was done by keeping in view the harvesting of local cotton varieties and agronomic practices. Based upon review, important design and operational parameters such as finger type cotton header such as finger length, finger spacing, finger angle and forward speed were selected for the study. All the sub-assemblies like header frame, finger, reel, auger and power transmission were created using NX-8 CAD software at Mahindra Applitrac, Mohali. Based upon 2D drawings and bill of material (BOM), a tractor operated three row cotton header was developed and fabricated. The location of center of gravity of the developed machine was 186 mm nearer from the rear axle (longitudinal) than the normal tractor, 123 mm offset from the left side of rear axle (lateral) instead of at the center as for normal tractor and 400 mm above than the normal tractor from the ground (height).