CN115362824A - Preprocessing of sugar cane - Google Patents

Abstract

A system 10 for the on-site collection of substantially the entire sugar cane and delivery of the cane to a grinder via a waste separator and scrubber. The harvester 11 collects the entire cane and throws the billets of cane into the intrafield conveyor 12 along with the waste, which the intrafield conveyor 12 then conveys to the centralized waste separator 13. The waste separator may serve any number of intrayard conveyors and may be located at the mill or another centralized location so that the output from the waste separator may be delivered to the conveyor 14. The blank 15 is then fed to a washer 16. The wash liquid from the downstream process may be used in a scrubber. The liquid enters the scrubber at 17. The mud and dirt is removed from the billet in a return liquid at 18 which is then passed to a mud removal unit 19 of conventional form. The juice is returned to the downstream process along line 20. It will be appreciated that there is very little loss in terms of juice laden sugar cane as the whole sugar cane is transported at 13 to a dedicated waste separator. At 21, the blank is moved to a grinder. They are typically moved to the first stage mill via a conveyor. The washing liquid can also be collected from the washer via an outlet conveyor. Modular harvesters, waste separators and scrubbers are also described.

Description

Preprocessing of sugar cane

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the pre-processing of sugar cane and is particularly but not exclusively an improvement in harvesting, waste separation and washing as a process prior to grinding.

Background

Sugarcane is the largest crop in the world and is grown primarily in tropical regions with high rainfall. Brazil is the highest sugar cane producing country to date. It is believed that farming starts in india first 327 years before b.c., but may be 8000 years earlier than b.c. Sugar cane was harvested manually until 1958 when the first masey Ferguson (Massey Ferguson) shredder was produced by inham (Ingham) in queensland, australia. The cane is fired in a conventional manner prior to harvesting. In the following years, local farmers assisted the development, particularly the addition of power feeders, blowers and extractors. The effect of these additives can be seen as a mass of waste thrown into the air and floating on the prevailing winds. This waste becomes amorphous and it is not readily apparent whether the actual juice-containing cane is being discarded. Manual harvesting is still used in some countries. It is desirable in these countries to provide an economical and efficient mechanical alternative.

Heretofore, under this scheme of handling in-field waste that remains normal in mechanized harvesting, the sugar cane is pre-processed and blanked by the harvester and delivered to the grinder substantially ready for grinding. This is logically considered to be very efficient. It is counter-intuitive to think that there are any practical problems associated with this idea.

However, applicants have recognized that this may not be the case. If the so-called "waste" is not all waste. Since the so-called waste leaves the harvester in the form of an amorphous "cloud", it can be determined how commercially valuable sugar cane is not inadvertently processed into "waste" over time.

The applicant has considered the operation of existing harvesters and it appears afterwards that the amount of waste cane should depend on the speed of the harvester. The faster the blower and extractor are driven, the more sugarcane may be lost.

The applicant has also realised that it is counter-intuitive to conclude that an obvious solution is a reduction in speed, and that this will ultimately benefit the collection efficiency, as lower speed means less waste is discharged. The applicant has observed that there is more waste impact downstream as it means more waste and dirt in the plant, increasing waste and dirt loading and grinding at the plant and higher demands on vacuum separation and clarification due to excess mud. Balancing may be difficult to achieve since the actual in-field environment is also variable.

To improve the overall effect, the applicant's counterintuitive proposal is to collect all in-field sugar cane prior to further processing and then to remove the waste centrally in a more controlled manner. Recognition of this idea is the applicant's main invention. Accompanying the invention is the practical application of the invention, in relation to its use in equipment design and function, particularly in new harvester design, waste separation/removal and cane washing. These represent further inventions in their own right alone or in combination. Although the harvester, waste separator and cane washer herein are independent, when carrying out applicants' process the cane is processed by them, so the post and post processing of the cane in terms of the process creates a working relationship between them.

The harvester, trash separator and cane washer herein are unexpectedly presented in the first place with the revolutionary concept of having a mechanized harvesting of the entire cane in the field. This is contrary to the long-term industry trend towards on-site waste removal.

A relatively new patent for a conventional harvester is described in us patent 8,240,115, dated 2012. There are many patents dealing with sugar cane harvesters in the field. A non-exhaustive and fairly random tabular expansion over time shows the advantages of onsite waste separation and would include U.S. patent No. 3,673,774 from 1972; U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,060 from 1978; us patent 4,343,140 from 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,896 from 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,110 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,700, from 1992. They all follow this basic theme within the waste removal field. They are often very complex since leaf-like material must be removed from the sugar cane stalks.

These and other references should be referenced in order to demonstrate that in all cases, abstract technicians will be presented with many similar solutions in old, mature, and crowded technologies, while applicant's invention has eluded technicians over the years. Since the present invention arises in crowded technology, it is first proposed with easy error that there exists or is existing specific problems or motivation at the filing date of this application which would cause a person not inventive to abstract the present invention in an idea, concept or actual form. Accordingly, the recognition and present concepts may be considered all or part of applicants' inventive steps.

In view of this and other background factors, including as noted above, the reader should clearly recognize that in such crowded art, it is essential that the utility of the present invention in all cases likely exist with minor variations. This is merely background for post-observation and is not intended to suggest any way in which any of the applicant's novel features are subtle or subtle, whether alone or in combination.

Although the prior art has become crowded, they have not gained wide acceptance in the sugar cane harvesting field, according to applicant's understanding of the market (if there are many offerings).

Thus, there is a need to review "out of box" with a new eye in an effort to provide an alternative to the efforts made over the past many years. It is desirable to have something that is simple and easy to assemble, yet effective, but employs common techniques and methods to achieve new and useful combinations and results. Simplicity, not considered an obstacle to the present invention, but in crowded technology may actually be an indication of the present invention.

This means that the present invention does not arise through any deterministic relationship to the prior art, but rather the inventor's own insights in a personal sense, applying the inventor's ideas to the general state of the art and the inventor's knowledge involved in its prototyping and development process and knowledge of the deficiencies that arise can be remedied as an alternative to what is currently available, rather than trying to deal with any specific actual existing problem generally recognized at that time or any abstract problem that follows afterwards from any single project of the prior art, by choosing afterwards from among apparently crowded technologies, since any choice in crowded technologies must necessarily be based on applicant's disclosure as a starting point. Selecting features from otherwise feasible solutions to match the applicant's claims must necessarily involve rejecting other features from the combinations disclosed in those solutions.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, there is provided a method for preparing sugar cane, the method comprising the steps of:

1. mechanically cutting and collecting a batch of substantially whole sugar cane within a field;

2. delivering the batch of sugar cane to a waste separator and subsequently separating the sugar cane in the batch from the waste; and

3. the waste separated sugar cane is delivered for further processing.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of washing the waste separated sugar cane.

In another aspect, a system for pre-grind sugar cane processing is provided for harvesting whole sugar cane in a field by using a whole sugar cane harvester to prepare a batch of substantially whole sugar cane; a waste separator for separating waste to produce waste separated sugar cane for further processing. Preferably, the system further uses a cane scrubber for waste separation for washing the cane prior to grinding.

As mentioned above, one consequence of harvesting whole sugar cane in a field is an unconventional harvester, as long as the waste is not processed on the harvester. Out of specification means that the harvester does not require a waste extractor or blower, which again is counterintuitive, but the absence of a blower results in savings in fuel consumption at the infield. The present harvester does not require many of the features of conventional harvesters that include a conveyor and a blower.

In addition to the above-mentioned omissions, applicants have made additional improvements in harvesters that can be used alone or in combination. Each of the improvements is set forth below, individually and in combination, and it is to be understood that the applicant can divide the improvements of the present invention into separate patents.

In one refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, an integrated modular feed system for removal and repair or for changing the width of an operating row is provided. In examples and variations, the harvester may be configured to cut two rows, each row having a common stock cutter travel feeder. Typically, the flow path tapers inwardly toward the billet cutter.

In a second refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, an inclined cane base cutter is provided having a forward downward angle of attack for cutting close to the ground.

In a third refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, a cane billet thrower is provided for delivering cane billets and waste into an adjacent on-site transporter.

In a fourth refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, a floating front feed system for undulating terrain is provided. Preferably, the feed system is floated by a counterweight or force for the feed system. Typically, this may be any means of providing upward lift, including chains, cables, spring hydraulic actuators, and the like. In the case of two rows of feeders, each row is preferably controlled independently. In one preferred form, an adjustable length biasing spring is employed and the feeder system is pivotally mounted to the harvester.

In a fifth refinement, in a sugar cane harvester having a front end of a stand, a feed system extending from the front end is provided, the feed system being adapted for elevation independent of the front end. The feed system typically employs a forward section upstream of the base cutter blade that floats relative to the angle of attack of the cutter blade. In a preferred form of this embodiment, the front section is caused to float due to a set of spaced apart links guiding the front section between the limits. These limits are typically provided by matching curved sections. The linkage is connected to a curved section that abuts at the upper and lower extent of relative motion between the front section and the sugarcane base cutter blade. The blades are typically set to an oblique angle of attack, with each blade configuration generally following the edge of an inverted shallow dome configuration or equivalent.

In a sixth refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, the harvester has a cradle including a prime mover and a chassis and a transport footprint that is within the confines of a transport container (preferably a 20 foot transport container).

In a seventh refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, there is provided a staggered spaced apart blank cutter having radially extending circumferentially spaced apart blades sized and arranged for lifting and passing stones up to about 200 mm.

In an eighth refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, a blank chopper replacement blade is provided that is adapted to slide out laterally for each replacement.

In a ninth refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, a shortened billet and feed assembly is provided that includes an inclined feed conveyor, a base shredder blade, a rotary conveyor, a billet cutter directed onto a billet thrower.

In a further refinement, in a sugar cane harvester, a modular arrangement in a sugar cane harvester as described herein is provided, wherein the harvester can be reconfigured as a lance atomizer.

In another aspect, another waste separator or remover is provided having an in-feed conveyor for the stock and waste that delivers the stock and waste through an inlet onto a curved grate through which air is driven to remove the waste. The conveyor is preferably inclined relative to the axis of the grate.

In another aspect, there is provided a sugar cane scrubber having: a scrubber tank, an agitator/conveyor, a billet elevator, a liquid inlet, and a return liquid collector, the scrubber tank having a billet inlet and a billet outlet; an agitator/conveyor within the tank; the blank lifter is communicated with the outlet; a liquid inlet from a downstream process to a tank; a return liquid collector is below the elevator and is used to return liquid to downstream processes.

In another aspect, in a preferred embodiment, in the process as described above, there is provided a harvester as described above, feeding a waste remover as described above, and then feeding the washer.

Drawings

In order that the invention, aspects and improvements may be more readily understood and put into practice, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a general schematic block diagram illustrating a general application of the present invention in a preferred form;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing modular aspects of a typical harvester;

fig. 3 is a diagram showing modular aspects of a two-row harvester with independent modular feeders;

fig. 4 and 5 are end and side views of the harvester of fig. 3;

6A-6B are diagrams showing adjustable spring biasing and raising features of a prime mover attached to a modular traveler;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show further details of the arrangement;

figures 8A to 8C are diagrams showing how sugar cane is cut and billets (billeted) are made in a harvester according to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a view of a blank cutter capable of passing through a substantial stone;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the waste separator/remover;

figures 11A to 11D are further views of a waste remover according to a preferred form;

figures 12A to 12D illustrate the operation of a portion of the waste remover of the preceding figures;

figures 13A to 13C are views illustrating a blank conveyor feeding blanks by gravity through the waste remover of the preceding figures;

FIG. 14 is an exploded view illustrating a scrubber unit according to the present invention;

fig. 15A-15D illustrate different views of the billet washer of the previous figures;

16A-16B are end views and cross-sectional views through A-A of FIG. 16A ofbase:Sub>A typical billet washer;

17A-17D are diagrams showing a preferred relationship between the front of the feed and blank unit and its cutter blade; and

fig. 18A and 18B are top and side schematic views of a variation employing a single module for two rows.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings and initially to fig. 1, there is illustrated an overall system 10 for on-site collection of whole sugar cane and delivery of the cane to a grinder via a waste separator and scrubber. In the illustrated embodiment, the harvester 11 collects the entire cane and throws the cane of billets into an on-site conveyor 12, which on-site conveyor 12 then transports it into a centralized waste separator 13. It should now be appreciated that this waste separator may serve any number of on-site conveyors and may be located at the grinder or at another centralized location so that the output from the waste separator may be passed to the conveyor 14. The blank 15 is then fed to a washer 16, the washer 16 being configured in this embodiment such that the washer is upstream of the grinding mill. This means that washing liquid from a process downstream in a series mill, such as mill 2, can be used in the scrubber. The liquid enters the scrubber at 17. The mud and dirt is removed from the billet in a return liquid at 18 which is then passed to a mud removal unit 19 of conventional form. This juice is returned to the downstream process along line 20. It will be appreciated that there is very little loss in terms of juice laden sugar cane since the entire cane is transported at 13 to a dedicated waste separator. The blank is moved to a grinder at 21. They are typically moved to the first stage grinder via a conveyor. The washing liquid can also be collected from the washer via an outlet conveyor.

Referring now to fig. 2, there is shown one example of a modular harvester 11 comprising a drive unit 22, removable billet throwers and chutes 23 and 24, and a feeder and billet module 25 (in this case a two row unit) which can be inserted under the chassis 26 and secured to respective mounts 29 and 30 by pivot couplings 27 and 28.

Fig. 3 illustrates a single row of modules 31 and 32 and like numerals illustrate like features, it being understood that in this embodiment the single row of feed and blank units 31 and 32 may be pivoted independently of each other. This is illustrated in fig. 4, where module 31 is shown slightly higher in position relative to module 32. The kicker 23 is shown in its operating position with the chute 24 delivering stock to the left hand side of the harvester.

The assemblies 25, 31 and 32 are arranged to float and follow the ground on which the harvester moves, and for this purpose, one or more spring assemblies 33 are more clearly illustrated in figure 6B as each of these assemblies is biased into floating contact with the ground. The cord 34 is connected to the end plate 35 via a threaded adjuster 36. The adjusting nut 37 is used to adjust the length of the spring 38. It should be understood that there is some adjustment of the spring in order to adjust the floating capacity of the feeder. Due to the spring there will be a damping and shock absorbing effect which will keep the feed to the harvester at the front due to the connection of the rope 34 relative to the pivotal connections at 29 and 30.

Quite separate from the spring assembly 33 are hydraulic ram assemblies 39, 40, 41 and 42 (a portion of which is shown) and which are used to lift the feed unit away from the ground for transport, maintenance or for replacement of the front wheels etc.

Referring now to fig. 8A-8C, the operation of the harvester will be shown with respect to a sugar cane shown at 42. As can be seen in fig. 8B and 8C, the hydraulically driven feed auger is shown generally at 43 to guide the cane along a section aligned with B-B as depicted in fig. 8C. The blade 44 will cut any overlapping blades between the two rows and then the paddle wheel 45 will force the cane at an angle of about 90 ° to the inclined cutter blades 46. This and the angle of attack of the blades cutting the cane very close to the ground therefore maximise the length of cane to be recovered above the ground. At 47, the cut end is fed into the billet cut feeder assembly, thus effectively inverting the sugar cane stalks as they are fed into the billet cutter 48. The blanks cut from the blanks fall into a kicker 23 where they are ejected via a chute 24 into an in-field conveyor (not shown).

It will be appreciated that, since there is no extractor or blower, the waste is also fed into the intrayard sugarcane conveyor through the chute 24 together with the billets. Harvesters can be made much shorter than conventional harvesters because there is less travel of the cane through the harvester into the thrower. This allows containerization of the harvester.

Since the cutter blades at 46 are inclined and directed superficially towards the very bottom of the sugar cane stalks to sever them, there is a possibility that rocks and other debris may enter the billet conveyor section. Thus, the conveyor section also has rubber fingers in the paddle wheel at 49. The spaced axes of the cutter blades at 48 as illustrated in figure 9 are such that the barrel 50 carrying the cutter blades 52 and the blades are sized and arranged so that they can pass through rock up to (in this example) 211mm, with one such rock being illustrated by the circle at 53.

Once the sugar cane has been harvested by the harvester 11, as shown in fig. 1, the sugar cane located in the intrayard conveyor is then passed to a waste separator or waste remover 13, and an example of the waste remover 13 is shown in exploded form in fig. 10, with further details and operation shown in fig. 11A to 13C. The components of the separator comprise an intermediate duct 54, which intermediate duct 54 has a gravity input and output 55 for the blanks. These fall onto the conveyor 14.

In this case there is an input conveyor for the blanks and waste at 56, which conveys the blanks and waste through an inlet at 57 to the pipe 54. Inside the duct is a curved separator grate 58, which separator grate 58 exposes the lighter waste to a conditioned air flow. The grids are carried by grid support plates 59, 60 and 61. The blower fan at 63 draws air in through the inlet at 64. This arrangement of fans driven at a suitable flow rate will provide for removal of waste as the blank gradually falls by gravity and travels along the curvature of the grate around the grate. The waste is blown out at 65 for collection in a cyclone and subsequent shredding.

The relative position of the conveyor 56 is shown in plan view in fig. 11A and, as can be seen, is inclined relative to the axis of the duct 54 and also relative to the direction of the grate 58, these relative arrangements being shown in fig. 13C. The underside of the conveyor as shown in fig. 13A shows the gravity exit opening at 67 for the blanks carried by the conveyor. This exit opening is located on and traverses the curved grate 58, as clearly depicted in fig. 13C. This opening to the blank conveyor effectively widens across the grate and allows the blank to flow uniformly across the entire width of the grate 58. This uniform flow means that there is an even distribution of the scavenging air flow to blow waste from the cane blank. The air flow is typically about 11 m/s. This is illustrated by the waste particles shown at 66 in fig. 12A-12D.

As further shown in fig. 1, as the waste removed billets exit the waste separator, they move onto the conveyor 14. They are conveyed to the washer 16, the details of which are shown in exploded view in fig. 14 to 16B. The scrubber tank 68 houses a mixer, beater 69, the mixer, beater 69 having helically mounted blades 70 so that the sugar cane falls into one end of the tank 68 where it is propelled and beaten towards the other end. Here, the blank is drawn onto an elevator assembly 71, with the bottom of the elevator traveling through the end at 72.

The relatively clean, low sugar juice from mill No. 2 in the tandem mill was heated to about 100 ℃ and used in the washer entering at 73. The stirrer speed was about 6m/s to break up the pieces of dirt in the sugar cane roots. The relatively dirty return juice flows through the perforated plate 74 in the elevator assembly in the collector pan 75 and also through the discharger 77 where it is returned to processing.

Referring now to fig. 17A-17D, another preferred embodiment of the feed and stock module front end section 78 is shown similar to module 25. In this case the module has its sugar cane led to a conveyor 79, the conveyor 79 being mounted to float by a plurality of sets of spaced links 80 and 81 (one set being shown in the drawings).

The links shown are connected to mating curved sections 82 and 83 which abut at the upper and lower extent of relative movement between the front and the cane base cutter blades 85 (fig. 17C and 17D). Typical ranges are shown in the figures in mm at 30mm (middle range), 88mm (lower range) and 95mm (upper range).

Thus, the front portion 85 may accommodate different row variations, including groove or mound rows.

In this embodiment, the bladeset 85 is forwardly inclined, but as can be discerned from the side views of 17A, 17C and 17D, the blade configuration generally follows the edge of an inverted shallow dome configuration or equivalent.

Although the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example, many variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, fig. 18A and 18B show a simplified schematic of a variation in which instead of each row having its own module, two rows of modules and chassis assemblies 86 are used, in which case for a row spacing of 1.8m, a cutter 85 is used and the basic feed is the same, but the rows are fed into their common blank cutter 48. The chassis has a single front wheel 87 to assist in turning. The cane flow path is indicated by lines 88 and 89, with lines 88 and 89 then merging into a single stream at 90. The billet thrower and chutes 23 and 24 of the previous embodiment (not shown here) are also assembled as modules. The feed devices are shown in part at 91 and 92 in fig. 18A and 18B, so there is a separate feed system for each row, but these feed systems have inward tapers to match the lines 88 and 89. The feed system itself may be conventional or may be configured as previously described with respect to each feed stage, although there will typically be additional feed rollers at 91, as there may be a slightly longer path to the blanker. The feed systems may be removed as pivot modules as before, and they may also float as before. The taper ensures that the chassis and the parts making up the harvester can still all fit into a 40 foot shipping container. All alternative variations will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

It will be further appreciated that the primary purpose of one form of the invention is to collect juice left unintentionally by prior art harvesters when attempting to separate the sugar cane stalks and leave waste, and therefore reference herein to whole sugar cane should not be literally understood, but means substantially the whole sugar cane captured by the invention as compared to the prior art, since some of the sugar cane leaves and stalks will inevitably remain in the field regardless of how efficient the process is. Whole sugar cane effectively means herein a higher overall efficiency than literally a whole sugar cane plant.

Claims (26)

1. A method of preparing sugar cane for further processing, the method comprising the steps of:

a. mechanically cutting and collecting a batch of substantially whole sugar cane within a field;

b. delivering the batch of sugar cane from the field into a waste separator;

and subsequently separating the sugar cane in the batch from the waste; and

c. delivering the waste separated sugar cane for further processing.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of washing the waste separated sugar cane.

3. A system for pre-grinding sugar cane processing to prepare a batch of substantially whole sugar cane by in-field whole sugar cane harvesting using a complete sugar cane harvester, a trash separator for separating trash to produce trash separated sugar cane and a scrubber for scrubbing the trash separated sugar cane prior to grinding.

4. A sugar cane harvester for mechanically cutting and collecting a batch of on-site sugar cane for an on-site sugar cane conveyor, the harvester comprising a drive unit, a feed system and a chopper, characterized in that downstream of the chopper is a kicker such that substantially the entire sugar cane is harvested and delivered to the on-site conveyor.

5. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein said feed system is an integrated modular feed system for removal and repair or for changing operating row widths.

6. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system comprises an inclined cane base cutter having a forward downward angle of attack to cut near the ground.

7. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the shredder is a cane blank and the kicker is a cane blank kicker for delivering cane blanks and waste into an adjacent intrafield conveyor.

8. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system is a floating front feed system for undulating terrain.

9. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system is a floating front feed system for undulating terrain that floats by a weight or force for the feed system.

10. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system is a floating front feed system for undulating terrain that floats by providing upward lift to offset the load on the feed system.

11. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feeder system is a floating front feeder system for undulating terrain that floats by providing upward lift to offset the load on the feeder system, the feeder system comprising two run feeders, each run feeder floating independently; in one preferred form, an adjustable length biasing spring is employed and the feeder system is pivotally mounted to the harvester.

12. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feeder system is a floating front feeder system for undulating terrain that floats by providing upward lift to offset loads on the feeder system, the feeder system including two run feeders, each run feeder independently floating and pivotally mounted to the harvester.

13. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, having a forward end of a bracket from which the feed system extends, the feed system adapted for elevation independently of the forward end, the feed system employing a forward section upstream of a base cutter blade, the base cutter having an angle of attack for cutting near the ground, the forward section floating relative to the angle of attack of the cutter blade.

14. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, having a forward end of a bracket from which the feed system extends, the feed system adapted for elevation independent of the forward end, the feed system employing a forward section upstream of a base cutter blade, the base cutter having an angle of attack for cutting near the ground, the forward section floating relative to the angle of attack of the cutter blade for undulating ground, the forward section floating due to a set of spaced apart links that guide the forward section between limits.

15. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, having a forward end of a bracket from which the feed system extends, the feed system adapted for elevation independent of the forward end, the feed system employing a front section upstream of a base cutter blade, the base cutter having an angle of attack for near ground cutting, the front section floating relative to the angle of attack of the cutter blade for undulating ground, the front section floating due to a set of spaced apart links that guide the front section between limits provided by matching curved sections to which the links are connected, the curved sections abutting at upper and lower ranges of relative motion between the front section and the sugar cane base cutter blade.

16. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system comprises a canted cane base cutter having a forward downward angle of attack to cut proximate the ground, the blades being disposed at a canted angle of attack, wherein each blade configuration generally follows the edge of an inverted shallow vault configuration.

17. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein in a sugar cane harvester, the harvester has a cradle comprising a prime mover and a chassis, a transport footprint, the footprint being within the confines of a transport container.

18. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the chopper is a blank cutter having interdigitating spaced blank cutters having radially extending circumferentially spaced blades sized and arranged for lifting and passing stones up to about 200 mm.

19. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein a blank chopper replacement blade is provided that is adapted to slide out sideways for replacement.

20. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system comprises a shortened billet and feed assembly comprising an inclined feed conveyor, a base chopper blade, a rotary conveyor, and a billet cutter directed onto a billet thrower.

21. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the harvester has a modular arrangement on a prime mover and cradle, the feed system is a removable module and the kicker is a removable module, such that the prime mover and cradle can be repurposed for other uses by removing the module.

22. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, wherein the feed system is an integrated modular feed system having interchangeable modules for varying the width of the operating row.

23. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4, for cutting two rows, each row having a common stock cutter row feeder.

24. The sugar cane harvester of claim 4 for cutting two rows, each row having a common stock cutter travel feeder and a flow path that tapers inwardly toward the stock cutter.

25. A waste separator or remover for use in the method of claim 1, wherein the waste separator or remover has a feed conveyor for stock and waste, which feed conveyor conveys the stock and waste through an inlet onto a curved grate through which air is driven to remove waste, the conveyor being inclined relative to the axis of the grate.

26. A sugar cane scrubber for use in the method of claim 2, the sugar cane scrubber having: a scrubber tank having a log inlet and a log outlet; an agitator/conveyor within the tank; a billet elevator in communication with the outlet; a liquid inlet from a downstream process to the tank; and a return liquid collector below the lift for returning liquid to a downstream process.

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