IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE OPERATIONAL CAPACITY OF SUGAR CANE HARVESTERS

ABSTRACT Several studies determined the theoretical and effective capacity of sugarcane harvesters. However, in field conditions, some variables affect sugarcane production and their effect on machine productivity is difficult to measure. The objective of this study is to analyze the correlation of the operational capacity of sugarcane harvesters with property size, sugarcane yield, total operation time of harvesters, and lost productive time. This correlation will be used to construct models that estimate machine capacity under different working conditions. Harvest data were collected from 41 farms with different sizes and rates of productivity, with the harvesting of 412,207 tons of sugarcane by eight harvesters. Property size was the variable that, in isolation, better represented the operational capacity of harvesters in both mg day−1 and mg h−1, with a positive and strong correlation between these two variables.