Threshing

Separating substances can be done in a variety of ways, including handpicking, threshing, winnowing, sieving, and magnetic separation. The crop must be harvested once it has matured or ripened. To collect grains, there are three important actions to take. The first step is to cut the crop. The second step is to separate the grain from the stalks. The third step is to clean up the greens. This can be done manually or with the assistance of machines. The stalk is beaten against a hard surface during manual threshing. Appliances are also efficient, as they can cut and thresh in the same amount of time. As a result, clean greens are obtained by winnowing the grain obtained, mingled with the remaining chaff and husk.

A threshing machine, also known as a thresher, is farm machinery that threshes wheat, removing the seeds from the stalks and husking them. Before such machines were developed, it was done manually by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Threshing was done by hand using flails, which was extremely hard and time-consuming, occupying a few quarters of agricultural labour by the time the procedure was mechanised in the 18th century. On the other side, it eliminated a significant amount of effort from farm labour. Andrew Michael, a Scottish engineer, invented the first threshing machine in 1786. One of the earliest examples of agricultural mechanisation throughout the nineteenth century was the introduction of such devices.

Various types of threshing

Harambha (high capacity) threshers

• It’s are essentially chaff-cutter threshers. A threshing cylinder, concave, two aspirator blowers, reciprocating sieves, feeding chute, feeding conveyor, feed rollers, safety lever in the feeding chute, and flywheel make up the machine. 
• The mainframe of the thresher has a platform on which a person stands and feeds the crop into the thresher. 
• All of the crop components are fed into the feeding chute’s conveyor, where feed rollers transport the crop to the threshing cylinder. 
• A safety mechanism in the feeding chute protects hands from becoming entrapped by the feed rollers.
•  Two chaff-cutter type blades and beaters are used in the threshing cylinder. The chaff-cutter blades cut the crop into bits, while the beater aids in the detachment of grain from the crop. 
• All of the threshed materials pass through the concave and are subjected to the blower’s aspiration action.
•  Light materials, such as chopped straw, are blown away, while grain and other materials fall revolving sieves. Through an auger elevator, clean grain is collected in a trolley.
•  It can also be used to thresh crops with high moisture content. The equipment is powered by a 35-hp tractor’s PTO and is transportable thanks to two pneumatic tyres. It has a threshing capacity of 1.5-2.0 tonnes per hour.

Sunflower thresher:

•  It has a concave threshing cylinder, a louvred casing, a cleaning system, a feeding hopper, and a frame.
•  The concave clearance of the cylinder is 40 mm and is consistent throughout its length. The cylinder has a diameter of 65 cm and a length of 150 cm. 
• The first part of the cylinder, measuring 133 cm in length, contains flat bars for crop threshing, while the second part, measuring 17 cm in length, has straw flinging blades.
•  The hexagonal cylinder housing is equipped with seven louvres. The louvres aid axial movement, and the crop is rotated three and a half times to ensure perfect grain separation. 
• A blower and two sieves are included in the cleaning system. The upper sieve has a 16-mm hole, while the lower sieve has a 6-mm opening.
•  The recommended cylinder and blower speeds are 300-350 rpm for the cylinder and 1200-1400 rpm for the blower, respectively.
•  The equipment can be operated by a tractor or a 7.5 horsepower motor. The equipment can process 600-900 kg of clean grain per hour.

Paddy Threshers

• A pedal-operated paddy thresher is made up of a well-balanced cylinder with a series of wire loops attached to hardwood slates. 
• To transmit power, it uses a gear drive mechanism. Paddy bundles of appropriate sizes are put to the teeth while the cylinder rotates at a high speed. 
• The grains are separated by mixing and threshing teeth hammering action. 
• The impact and rubbing action between the threshing pulled loops and the concave screen threshes the paddy. 
• With the help of a fan, the grains are cleaned, and the cleaned grain is discharged through the grain outlet at the bottom of the thresher. 
• They come in a variety of horsepower ranges.

Conclusion

The process of removing grains from plants is known as “threshing.” These tasks can be completed by hand or with the assistance of animals or equipment in the field or on the threshing floor. Whatever system is employed, threshing must be done with extreme caution. 

The crop must be harvested once it has matured or ripened. To collect grains, there are three important actions to take. The first step is to cut the crop. Otherwise, these processes may result in grain breakage or the removal of protective husks, lowering product quality and increasing losses due to insect and mould infestations. To avoid loss, care should be taken when carrying gathered crops from the field to the threshing floor.