Potatoes are considered one of the most common vegetables that gardeners grow in their summer cottages. Growing a great potato crop is only half the battle. After cultivation, it is also necessary to properly harvest the ripened root crops. Digging by hand is difficult and that is why many people prefer to dig potatoes with a walk-behind tractor. This method is much simpler than using a bayonet shovel, since you just have to operate the cultivator to harvest the crop.
Before you start harvesting in this way, you should familiarize yourself with the features of using a walk-behind tractor.
Advantages of digging potatoes with a walk-behind tractor
Some vegetable growers refuse to dig up potatoes with a walk-behind tractor because they are afraid of ruining the potato harvest. Such fears are not in vain, since if the cultivator is used incorrectly, tubers can actually be damaged. Incorrect adjustment of the mini tractor often results in spoiled tubers cut into pieces.
However, despite this, the use of a walk-behind tractor has advantages that make the collection of root crops much easier. Common benefits include:
- Simplicity of design. The equipment has a simple design, the features of which are easy to understand. The main element of the cultivator is a potato digger, consisting of an upper fan and a metal plow.
- Easy setup that an inexperienced person can handle without any problems. Even gardeners who have never been interested in technology can handle setting up a potato harvesting machine. In order not to damage the root crops during harvesting, it is enough to adjust the depth of the plow, which is responsible for digging up the tubers.
- Reducing physical activity. The walk-behind tractor digs the potatoes itself, thanks to which physical activity is significantly reduced.
- Quick harvesting of ripe crops. Harvesting tubers using a cultivator takes less time than harvesting manually.
How to properly configure equipment?
Before you start harvesting the cultivator, it is pre-configured. When setting up equipment for collecting potato root crops, special attention is paid to adjusting the plow, which is responsible for digging up potatoes.
First, the distance the plow goes deep into the soil when digging is adjusted. It is enough to set the depth equal to the size of one shovel bayonet. If you set a smaller distance, then when digging potatoes out of the ground with a motorized cultivator, the root crops will be damaged.
The depth regulation is controlled by bolts located between the lock and the plow stand. After loosening the bolts, you can move the plow down or up yourself.
After adjusting the depth, the angle of inclination of the field board relative to the ground surface is adjusted. To adjust the angle, you will have to use a screw handle. When adjusting, the handle is twisted until the board rests completely on the ground. Then the handle is twisted in the opposite direction so that its back part rises 2–5 cm above the ground.
Digging potatoes with a walk-behind tractor
Beginners who have not previously harvested potatoes with a walk-behind tractor often have problems when using such a cultivator. Therefore, it is recommended to familiarize yourself in advance with the features of using such equipment in practice.
First you need to clear the area with the grown potatoes from debris, leaves and weeds. When clearing an area of weeds, you can also use a cultivator. To do this, a special hiller and two rippers are placed on the equipment, after which you can loosen the soil between the rows. It is necessary to loosen the soil with a walk-behind tractor between the rows carefully so as not to accidentally damage the potatoes.
Once the rows are prepared, you can begin harvesting. When digging up potatoes with a cultivator, the harvest is collected through a row. Therefore, after collecting tubers in the first row, they immediately begin digging up the third. This is done to:
- do not accidentally damage the dug-up crop with wheels, which often ends up between the rows after digging;
- The walk-behind tractor was easier to control and did not drift to the side.
If you follow this easy scheme, you can harvest potatoes from five acres in 35–40 minutes.
Types of potato diggers
To dig potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, various types of potato diggers are used. When harvesting, simple homemade models and factory cultivators are used, which independently dig, collect and transport the harvested crop.
Factory
Factory models are often used to dig up potato roots, as they are of higher quality. Simple models are produced that look like a regular shovel with sharp teeth and without a handle. When digging potato tubers with a walk-behind tractor, the teeth go deeper into the soil and lift the root crops. Then all the potatoes in the soil fall onto the surface of the teeth and are carried out. Models with teeth require precise adjustment to avoid accidentally damaging the potatoes when digging.
There are also more complex models, tests of which have shown that they are more effective in comparison with simple models equipped with teeth. Such potato diggers are equipped with special belts for transporting already dug potatoes to their further storage location.
Homemade
Sometimes people simply don’t have the money for a super potato digger for harvesting potatoes, and so some try to make such a product themselves. Such work may seem difficult for many people, but in fact the manufacturing process is not that difficult. People who have previously worked with welding machines and metal products can easily make a homemade digger using drawings from the Internet. To create a structure for harvesting potatoes yourself, you will need the following tools and materials:
- hammer;
- welding;
- hammer drill for working with metal sheets;
- Consumables;
- metal scissors;
- spanners.
Recommendations for selection
To efficiently dig up potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, you should choose a high-quality digger.
When choosing, the type of walk-behind tractor for which the digger is selected is taken into account. For example, potato diggers of the Agro or Zubr models are better suited for light walk-behind tractors than others.
All other varieties will not be combined with such cultivators.
For more powerful walk-behind tractors, the following models are chosen:
- KVM-3. The device goes deep to a depth of 25 cm, which allows you to remove potato tubers from the soil. The model allows you to install additional knives on it for collecting fruits in hard ground.
- KVM-1. Used for use together with Neva cultivators. Like the KVM-3 model, it is equipped with additional slots for knives.
Conclusion
Digging up potato roots is a labor-intensive task that all gardeners face. To somehow simplify this process, it is recommended to use special walk-behind tractors for harvesting.
