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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] potato digger advice

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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: rob AT songberry.ca, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] potato digger advice
  • Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:00:55 -0400

I have a Willsie 3pt PTO driven single row chain digger.  I had a weed problems this year and moisture prevented from planting all of them early so yields on part of my plots were poor.  The straight diggers I would assume would handle weeds better than a side/windrowing type digger.  I did not have much in the way of weeds between rows because I did two successive hillings post planting.  The weeds were on the hills so mowing worked very well.

The Willsie Chain digger is simple and seemingly robust.  I did run the chain off once and it was easy to fix. 

I did one acre, with 14-650 foot rows.  Total harvest was on the small size with about 2.5 tons harvested.

Now I am looking for a potato planter.  If anyone has some advice on that I'd love to hear it.  I planted an acre by hand this year and even with help...never again.  The options there get a little bit more interesting.  The prices are less than a new digger so that is nice.  I am hoping to move up to 3 to 5 acres next year and do away with two or three crops we sell right now, like Tomatoes.

I did a late planting of onions with the potatoes (the end of a row we could not finish in potatoes) to see if we could dig onions with the same tool.  Worked like a charm. I am thinking about doing heavy density planting of sets, in mounds and harvest the same way.  The test run worked so this should.

Rob, Willsie has a manufacturer here in Michigan but they are on your side of the border.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106
rst



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