Beet Cleaner Loader

Overview

A sugar beet cleaner loader is a self-propelled machine that empties field-edge beet clamps, removes the soil, stones and crop residue clinging to the roots, and lifts the cleaned beet into road trailers for transport to the factory. After harvesting, sugar beet is normally stored in long heaps, called clamps, at the headland. Beet leaves the ground carrying 5 to 15 percent of its weight as adhering soil, plus loose stones, leaf and crown trash. The factory pays for clean beet and penalises dirt tare, so removing that material before loading is worth a measurable amount per tonne. The cleaner loader does this work at 300 to 500 tonnes per hour, far faster than loading directly with a wheel loader bucket.

The machine has three working zones in line: a front Pick-up Assembly that gathers beet from the clamp, a central Cleaning Table that separates dirt from the roots, and a Loading Boom that elevates the cleaned crop into a trailer alongside. All three are carried on a wheeled Chassis and driven by a Engine Module through the Hydraulic System. The operator works from a cab that forms part of the Control System.

How it works

The machine drives slowly into the foot of the clamp. The Pick-up Rotor, fitted with rows of sprung Pick-up Tine fingers, rotates against the heap and lifts beet onto the Intake Apron. Two Gathering Auger screws draw beet inward from the full width of the clamp so the pick-up never starves or floods. Pick-up speed is set by an orbital Hydraulic Drive Motor and matched to forward travel so the rotor combs the heap rather than digging into it.

From the apron the beet flows onto the Cleaning Table. This is a bed of sixteen counter-rotating Cleaning Roller shafts, each 90 mm in diameter and set on 110 mm centres, sleeved with a Roller Spiral in tough polyurethane. The gaps between rollers are wide enough to drop soil and small stones but too narrow to pass a beet, so the roots ride over the top while loose dirt falls through. The spirals also walk the beet rearward and tumble it, which knocks off clods that simple screens would leave behind. A Roller Drive Chain chain turns the bank through a Table Frame of journal bearings, and the soil that drops through lands on a Trash Conveyor belt that carries it clear to the side.

Cleaned beet reaches the foot of the Loading Boom. A cleated Elevator Belt running over the Boom Conveyor drums elevates the crop along the telescopic Boom Section tubes. The whole boom rides on a Slew Bearing and is positioned by two Boom Cylinder rams, one for lift and one for extension, so the operator can aim the discharge anywhere across a waiting trailer. A folding Discharge Head at the tip drops the beet the last short distance, keeping fall height low so the roots are not bruised on the way into the load.

Cleaning performance

Dirt removal is the value of the machine, and it is a balance. Aggressive cleaning, set by running the rollers fast and the bed steep, strips more soil but can chip or bruise beet, which raises sugar loss and rot in storage. Gentle settings protect the beet but leave more tare. The operator trims roller speed through the Control System to suit conditions: dry, friable soil cleans easily at low speed, while wet, sticky soil needs more energy and a longer dwell on the table. A well-set machine typically takes adhering soil from 10 percent down to 2 or 3 percent of beet weight, which is the level the factory expects.

Stones are the other concern. Flint and other hard stones the size of a beet pass over the rollers with the crop and can damage factory slicing knives. Some machines add a stone trap or a finger section ahead of the boom, but most rely on the cleaning table gaps to drop the bulk of stones with the soil and on the trailer driver to spot the rest.

Drive and structure

The Diesel Engine in the Engine Module turns a pump drive that feeds the Hydraulic System. There is no mechanical transmission to the working parts: every drive, from the wheels to the rollers to the boom, is hydraulic. Two load-sensing Hydraulic Pump units supply a proportional Control Valve Block block, which meters oil to each circuit on demand. A Hydraulic Reservoir of about 250 litres and a Hydraulic Filter keep the oil cool and clean, and a Hose Set routes it around the machine.

The Main Frame carries these loads on two steered Drive Axle units running wide Flotation Wheel flotation tyres, which spread weight on the soft headland. A Turntable lets the cab and boom rotate, and two Stabiliser Leg legs level the machine while it works so the cleaning table runs at the set angle.

Operation and use

The operator commands the machine from the cab with two Control Joystick controls, one for travel and one for the boom. A Machine Control Unit reads pressures from the circuits and limits boom reach so the structure is not overloaded, and a Operator Terminal shows throughput, oil temperature and any fault codes. A loading cycle runs as a team: the cleaner loader sits at the clamp while a string of trailers pulls in one after another, each filled in a few minutes before the next takes its place. Output of 400 tonnes per hour means a clamp of several thousand tonnes clears in a working day, which is why a single machine often serves the beet from many surrounding farms during the campaign.