With the acceleration of urbanization and the transfer of agricultural population, there is a growing shortage of tea picking labor. The development of tea machinery picking is the only way to solve this problem.
At present, there are several common types of tea harvesting machines, including single person, double person, seated, and self-propelled. Among them, seated and self-propelled tea picking machines have relatively complex structures due to their walking system, high terrain requirements, and low scale application. Single person and double person tea picking machines are easy to operate and have strong adaptability, and are widely used in production practice.

This article will take single person, double person, handheld, and electric tea picking machines, which are mainstream applications in the market, as the experimental objects. Through picking tests, the picking quality, operating efficiency, and picking cost of four types of tea picking machines will be compared, providing strategic basis for tea gardens to choose appropriate models.

1. Machine adaptability of different tea picking machines

From the perspective of machine adaptability, the power gasoline engine of the two person tea harvester is integrated into the machine head, with fast picking speed and high efficiency. The fresh leaves cut are directly blown into the leaf collection bag under the action of the fan, and the picking operation is basically linear. However, the noise and heat of the engine have a significant impact on the comfort of the operator and are prone to work fatigue.
The electric portable tea picking machine is driven by a motor, with low noise and heat generation, and high personnel comfort. In addition, the leaf collection bag has been removed, and operators need to operate the tea picking machine with one hand and the leaf collection basket with the other hand. During the picking process, arc-shaped movements are required to collect fresh leaves, which has strong adaptability to the picking surface.

2. Comparison of picking efficiency of different tea picking machines

Whether it is unit area efficiency, harvesting efficiency, or personnel efficiency, the operational efficiency of the two person tea picker is significantly better than the other three tea pickers, which is 1.5-2.2 times that of a single person tea picker and dozens of times that of a handheld premium tea picker.
Electric portable battery tea picker have the advantage of low noise, but their operational efficiency is lower than traditional single person tea picking machines driven by gasoline engines. This is mainly because the gasoline engine driven tea picking machine has a higher rated power and a faster cutting speed in reciprocating cutting. In addition, due to the fresh leaves being cut being directly blown into the leaf collection bag under the action of the fan, the picking operation basically follows a linear motion; The electric portable tea picking machine requires one hand to operate the tea picking machine and the other hand to hold a leaf collecting basket. During the picking process, it needs to make a curved motion to collect fresh leaves, and the operation trajectory is complex and relatively difficult to control.
The operational efficiency of handheld tea picking machines is much lower than the other three types of tea picking machines. This is mainly because the design concept of handheld premium tea picking machines is still a biomimetic picking method that simulates human hands, requiring manual operation to accurately position the cutting tools to the picking area, which requires high proficiency and accuracy of the operators. Its operational efficiency is much lower than that of reciprocating cutting machines.

3. Comparison of picking quality between different tea picking machines

From the perspective of picking quality, the picking quality of two person tea picking machines, single person tea picking machines, and electric portable tea picking machines is average, with a yield of less than 50% for one bud and two leaves. Among them, traditional single person tea picking machines have the highest yield of 40.7% for one bud and two leaves; The two person tea picking machine has the worst picking quality, with a yield of less than 25% for one bud and two leaves. The handheld high-quality tea picking machine has a slower picking speed, but its yield of one bud and two leaves is 100%.
4. Comparison of picking costs between different tea picking machines
In terms of unit picking area, the picking cost of three reciprocating cutting tea picking machines per 667 m ² is 14.69-23.05 yuan. Among them, the electric portable tea picking machine has the lowest picking cost, which is 36% lower than the operating cost of traditional single person tea picking machines driven by gasoline engines; However, due to its low efficiency, the handheld premium tea picking machine has a picking cost of nearly 550 yuan per 667 m ², which is more than 20 times the cost of other tea picking machines.

conclusion

1. The two person tea picking machine has the fastest operating speed and picking efficiency in machine picking operations, but its high-quality tea picking is poor.
2. The efficiency of a single person tea picking machine is not as good as that of a double person tea picking machine, but the picking quality is better.
3. Electric portable tea picking machines have economic advantages, but their yield of one bud and two leaves is not as high as that of single person tea picking machines.
4. The handheld tea picking machine has the best picking quality, but the picking efficiency is the lowest