Influence of Grid Bar Shape on Field Cleaner Performance - Screening Tests

            Previous research has shown that the performance of sling-off type cleaning machines designed to remove foreign matter from harvested seed cotton is influenced by design factors such as grid bar to saw cylinder clearance, grid bar spacing, saw cylinder speeds, and saw cylinder arrangement.  However, little research addresses the influence of grid bar cross sectional geometry on machine performance.  The objective of this research is to quantify the influence of grid bar cross sectional geometry on foreign matter removal, seed cotton loss, and fiber quality preservation.  Screening tests were conducted on a John Deere field cleaner at the USDA ARS Cotton Production and Processing Research Unit in Lubbock, TX.  Twenty-eight grid bar treatments were evaluated in the study under a completely randomized design with three replications per treatment.  Seed cotton samples were collected before and after the cleaner for fractionation analysis.  Samples of the material removed from the seed cotton by the cleaner were also taken for fractionation analysis.  The cleaned seed cotton was ginned and lint samples were sent for HVI and AFIS analysis at Cotton Incorporated.  The results of these analyses will be used to select two grid bar treatments to evaluate against the control treatment in a multi-variety field scale test during the 2008 harvest season.