Spindle Picker Harvest Speed Effects

Spindle picking has become the preferred method of harvesting most cotton in the U.S.  Improvements to the cotton harvester have primarily focused on increased speed and decreased spindle diameter and length in order to reduce the cost of harvesting and to reduce head weight and production cost.  As the spindle speed has increased, cotton fibers can wrap more tightly around the spindle.  As spindle diameter decreases, cotton fibers will wrap around the spindle more and will also become tighter on the spindle.  As spindle length decreases, cotton plants must be further compressed as they pass through the picking zone.  These changes have resulted in a general decrease in cotton fiber quality, particularly regarding spindle twists, preparation, and neps.  Two John Deere Pro 12 spindle picker units were modified to operate at 2000 and 3000 rpm, respectively.  Field tests were conducted to obtain seed cotton for which the fiber quality could be compared among these two modified picker unit and a third unmodified picker unit.