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Abstract. Previous studies on a new type of contra-rotating basecutter that designed based on the support-cutting theory mainly focused on the relationship between cutting quality of sugarcane stalks and the basecutter parameters. However, it did not research how these factors affect the energy consumption during cutting process. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the rotational speeds(A) and tilt angles(B) of cutting disc, cutting blade number(C), and sugarcane stalks feeding rate(D) affect basecutting energy consumption through a series of bench tests. In this study, a four-factor four-level orthogonal experiment and 4 single factor experiments were carried out on the contra-rotating basecutting platform. The results of single factor experiment showed that the basecutting energy consumption increases with the increase of the rotational speed of cutting disc and the blade number, however, the energy consumption decreases with the increase of tilt angle of cutting disc and the sugarcane feeding rate. The ANOVA of orthogonal test results showed that the rotational speed of cutting disc and the sugarcane feeding rate have significant influence on the energy consumption in the process of sugarcane cutting, while the tilt angle of cutting disc and the cutting blade number have no significant influence on it. Besides, the order of effect that the four factors on the energy consumption was determined by comparing the values of F-value, which is A>D>B>C. In addition, the main effect graph showed that the energy consumption was minimum when the rotational speeds and tilt angles of cutting disc, cutting blade number, and sugarcane stalks feeding rate were 150 rpm, 20°, 4, and 1.0m·s^-1, respectively. This study can provide basic information for engineers to optimize the design of contra-rotating basecutter, which could reduce energy needed during harvesting sugarcanes.