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  • From: "Dalew Farms" <dalew AT phonenet.ca>
  • To: <rob AT songberry.ca>, "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] potato digger advice
  • Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2010 05:15:23 -0400

Hi Rob!
 
We actually did almost the exact same thing as  you this year!  Part way through the potato harvest we lucked out enough to be able to get an old ground drive digger (I don't even know what model) from my wife's grandfather who isn't using it anymore.  I pull it also on the 3 pt hitch, and found that with a row or two of practice I was able to judge the depth I needed to be at quite quickly. We've got a Kubota 6800 without a creeper on it, and at first I was running it in 1st gear, at about 1500 rpm, so quite slow.  I found, like you it sounds, that more speed helped, and when I finished I was running it in 2nd gear, and closer to 2000 engine rpm. 
 
When I finished digging, conditions were much wetter, so maybe the extra speed is more important in that condition.  We also had lots of weeds, and I've swore that we'll keep them cleaner next year so I don't have to take a rotary cutter across each row before digging.  I didn't play too much with the angle, so I can't help you there, other than to say that I adjusted it to be a bit more level than it originally was just because I thought a few spuds were bouncing backwards downhill once in a while.
 
I thought it was way better than digging by hand also (we previously had a harvesting broadfork, which also was way better than a narrow old fork used to be!)  The worst problem I had was with some potatoes sliding out the side of the shute at the bottom just before they would be going onto the chains, and them some of those rolling underneath those steel wheels.  Most of them miss the spikes on the wheels, but a few end up directly underneath and damaged.  Did you have that problem?  The other problem I had was that the weeds/weed roots would gather up on the shaker panel at the back (does yours have one of those also?)  and then that would eventually be the spot that plugged the digger and made it stop turning.  I found that the extra speed really helped to keep that clean and trouble free.  Before going a bit faster, I either had to stop once, or sometimes twice in a 120' row to clean that shaker off, or have some helping me behind with a fork to pull that trash off once in a while. 
 
One other thing I plan on doing this winter is making a small cart with wheels for the digger, instead of putting it on the 3 pt hitch.  If I build it adjustable for different conditions, I figure that should be more accurate than me adjusting the 3 pt hitch as I drive along.  (I'm guessing thats the way those things were originally designed to be used anyways, since horeses dont' have 3 pt hitches!) 
 
I hope this helps...I've got to get going to make a delivery for Farmers' Market.  We had a little more than 3" of rain yesterday, and I don't know how much more last night.  Made harvesting lots of *fun*  yesterday.
 
Dave
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 10:07 AM
Subject: [Market-farming] potato digger advice

Hi all,

 

Anybody have any advice to offer on using chain-type potato diggers? I bought an old “Hoover” ground-drive digger this spring and hauled it down to my potato patch yesterday. The conditions were definitely less than ideal – too many weeds, soil a bit on the wet side – so there was a lot of plugging, sliding, and backing up, but it still beat digging by hand! I’m wondering, though, if any one has any advice to offer on how to make things go easier. I’m mowing everything off with a rotary mower as close to the ground as possible, which deposits more of the top growth to the side and out of the way.

 

I’m most curious about the effect of the speed of travel, and the angle of the chain. My observations so far are that the momentum of a faster speed seems to help keep things flowing, but I don’t want to overdo it and break something. I can’t really decide what difference the angle of the chain makes – I’m pulling it with a hitch bar on the 3-point hitch, so I can adjust the digging depth that way, without having to get off and move the lever, so moving the lever really just adjusts how steep the climb is for the potatoes and soil. Anybody know what angle and speed these things were designed to work at?

 

(And yes, I know that a new PTO-drive machine would be better and that this thing probably belongs in a museum, but this was a fraction of the cost, and those big spaded cast-iron wheels look so cool… J)

 

Cheers,

Rob

 

Rob Wallbridge

Songberry Organic Farm

24 Sixth Line, Bristol, QC J0X 1G0

email: rob AT songberry.ca

web: www.songberry.ca

facebook: become a fan of "Songberry Organic Farm"

 


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