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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 |
-
[Market-farming] potato digger advice,
Rob Wallbridge, 09/24/2010
- Re: [Market-farming] potato digger advice, Richard Stewart, 09/24/2010
-
Re: [Market-farming] potato digger advice,
Dalew Farms, 09/25/2010
- Re: [Market-farming] potato digger advice, MAsteveINE, 09/25/2010
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