Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards

Wang, Juxia; Pan, Weizheng; Wang, Xupeng; An, Yifang; An, Nan; Duan, Xinxin; Zhao, Fu; Han, Fei

doi:10.3390/agronomy15122893

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Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards

by

Juxia Wang

^1,2,*

,

Weizheng Pan

^1,2,

Xupeng Wang

^1,2,

Yifang An

¹,

Nan An

^1,2,

Xinxin Duan

^1,2,

Fu Zhao

^1,2 and

Fei Han

^1,2

¹

College of Agricultural Engineering, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong 030801, China

²

Dryland Farm Machinery Key Technology and Equipment Key Laboratory of Shanxi Province, Jinzhong 030801, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Agronomy 2025, 15(12), 2893; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122893

Submission received: 4 November 2025 / Revised: 13 December 2025 / Accepted: 13 December 2025 / Published: 16 December 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Weed Science and Weed Management)

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Abstract

To address the challenges of narrow, confined spaces in traditional closed-canopy orchards, where complex terrain between and within rows hinders the operation of large and medium-sized mowers. A self-propelled intra-plant obstacle-avoiding oscillating mower was developed. Its core innovation is an integrated oscillating mechanism that achieves one-pass, full-coverage operation by coordinating a 110° fan-shaped cutting path for inter-row areas with an adaptive flipping contour-cutting action for intra-plant areas. The power and transmission systems were optimized according to the shear and bending forces of three common weed species. The integrated prototype was then built and subjected to field tests. The results showed that the shear and bending forces of all three weed species peaked at 30 mm from the root and stabilized beyond 50 mm. Field tests demonstrated a 100% intra-plant obstacle passage rate, 96.9% cutting width utilization rate, 92.07% stubble height stability coefficient, and a 1.66% missed-cutting rate, which meets the operational requirements of closed-canopy orchards.

Keywords: closed-canopy orchard; intra-plant obstacle-avoiding; oscillating; mower; field test

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wang, J.; Pan, W.; Wang, X.; An, Y.; An, N.; Duan, X.; Zhao, F.; Han, F. Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards. Agronomy 2025, 15, 2893. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122893

AMA Style

Wang J, Pan W, Wang X, An Y, An N, Duan X, Zhao F, Han F. Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards. Agronomy. 2025; 15(12):2893. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122893

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wang, Juxia, Weizheng Pan, Xupeng Wang, Yifang An, Nan An, Xinxin Duan, Fu Zhao, and Fei Han. 2025. "Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards" Agronomy 15, no. 12: 2893. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122893

APA Style

Wang, J., Pan, W., Wang, X., An, Y., An, N., Duan, X., Zhao, F., & Han, F. (2025). Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards. Agronomy, 15(12), 2893. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122893

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Design and Experiment of an Inter-Plant Obstacle-Avoiding Oscillating Mower for Closed-Canopy Orchards

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