Stripper is a type of harvesting machine designed for harvesting grain using the method of stripping standing crops. Unlike a conventional combine harvester, this machine collects grain by stripping the spikes only, without cutting the culms at their base. Harvesting grain by stripping was known as early as the 1st century AD but was later abandoned. Today, it is used on a small scale thanks to the implementation of specialized harvesting headers in combine harvesters. The stripper was common in Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century. John Ridley is now accepted as its inventor, though John Wrathall Bull argued strongly for the credit.
Description Harvesting is the final stage of crop cultivation. It should be done as quickly as possible after the grain has reached maturity. Leaving the harvest in the field can lead to partial or even total loss of its value due to adverse weather conditions, fires, and wildlife. The speed of harvesting depends on the throughput of the combine's threshing unit. During the threshing process, which is preceded by cutting, a significant amount of straw passes through the combine, limiting the vehicle's speed. A stripper leaves most of the straw in the field, with grain making up 80% of the harvested mass, which is twice as much as with traditional harvesting. This feature allows for a twofold increase in the working speed of the combine, shortening the harvesting time. Stripping also reduces grain losses that occur during the gathering process in the cutting harvesting unit. In traditional harvesting, a certain amount of energy – and thus fuel used in the combine – is consumed for cutting plant stems, transporting, deforming during threshing, and separating. The stripping technology allows for a 35–40% reduction in fuel consumption. The main advantages of a stripper include:
the ability to harvest grain with moisture levels over 20%, which is nearly impossible with a traditional combine; harvesting with minimal loss of lodged and tangled grain; harvesting from fields infested with low weeds; compatibility with cultivation technologies where crop residues remain in the field; retention of snow on the field due to leftover plant parts in dry areas. The stripper plucks the ears of grain (generally wheat) without winnowing, and leaving the straw standing. The first strippers were drawn by bullocks and consisted of a large, wheeled, box-like machine with a row of spiked prongs in front and with a long pole at the back of the machine for steering. It had the advantage over the early reaper machines in being able to reap more quickly (of benefit in a hot climate) and having fewer components subject to wearing out. The first strippers were improved by adding a beater to knock the heads off the stems. The machines became headers. Later headers had reciprocating cutter bars at the back of the combs to cut the stems just short of the heads. A stripper-harvester also winnowed the grain, removing the chaff. Notable manufacturers were Sunshine Harvester, J. and D. Shearer and Mellor Bros. (who specialised in "bike strippers", i.e. light enough to be drawn by a bicycle).
History The historical development of the stripper has an interrupted and multi-stage character. In certain historical periods, it emerged as a means to meet the pressing needs of society, only to fade into obscurity before being revived again after centuries. During this time, a large number of strippers were developed, produced, and tested by inventors, but only a few were implemented in production and applied in agriculture.
Gallic reaper
The first mentions of methods for harvesting only the spikes of grain using a primitive machine can be found in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder, written for the Roman Emperor Titus. The author described primitive machines used in large estates in Gaul as more efficient than manual labor. A more detailed description of these machines appears in the Treatise on Agriculture by the 4th-century writer Palladius. According to Palladius, this device took the form of a two-wheeled cart with a comb mounted at an angle at the front. An ox or donkey was harnessed to the cart. Alongside the cart walked a person with a T-shaped tool (a long stick with a smaller one transversely mounted at the end). As the machine moved across the field, the comb engaged the stalks at the level of the inflorescences, and the person used the tool to "comb" the spikes so that they touched the comb, broke off, and fell into the cart. The stalks remained untouched in the field. The main task of stripping machines – i.e., separating spikes from stalks – was made possible by the comb and the active T-shaped tool. Such a device could only harvest grain with spikes located at the ends of long stalks. It is unknown how long this machine was used in Gaul, but considering that Pliny the Elder mentions it in the second half of the 1st century and Palladius confirms its existence in the first half of the 4th century, it is likely that the Gallic reaper was used for at least 250 years.
Australian harvester
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