Combine Header for Direct Harvest of Dry Edible Beans

Most edible beans are currently harvested with a multi-operation system involving undercutting, windrowing, and combining. This harvest system has high operating cost, high weather risk to the undercut plants, high soil intake into the combine, and allows few options for controlling soil erosion after harvest. A small proportion of the crop is direct harvested but current equipment for direct harvest results in excessive field loss and too much soil taken into the combine. We propose a new concept in combine header design that will gently lift, divide, and cut the plants with acceptable low field loss and minimal soil intake into the combine. The goal of this project will be to test components of this header concept on a laboratory test stand to determine feasibility of building a field prototype for Phase II of the project.