The Design and Test of the Chassis of a Triangular Crawler-Type Ratooning Rice Harvester

Due to the high rolling rate of a regular crawler paddy harvester and the absence of mature first season harvester products of ratooning rice, combined with the planting mode and harvest requirements of ratooning rice, a triangular crawler ratooning rice harvester is specifically designed. The structure and steering principle of the triangular crawler chassis are described. The hydraulic system is simulated and analyzed by AMESim2020 (Guangzhou, China) to verify the rationality of its design; RecurDynV9R4 (Guangzhou, China) is used to simulate and analyze the field straight/turning situation of differential steering chassis and rear-axle steering chassis. The results show that the rear axle steering chassis has a smaller turning radius and lower rolling loss rate and the change of track tension is more stable during steering. The field test is conducted to verify the reliability of the simulation results. The field test shows that the rolling loss rate of the rear axle steering chassis is reduced by 27.9% compared with the differential steering chassis. The machine’s operating speed is 2.8 km/h, the minimum turning radius is 780 mm, and the straight rolling rate is 26.8%. The operating performance is stable, and the operational process is smooth. Compared with the existing conventional harvester, the linear rolling rate of the first harvest of ratooning rice is reduced by 26.1%, and the test results are consistent with the RecurDyn simulation results. The results are reliable, providing a reference for the theoretical research of the chassis of the later ratoon rice harvester.