market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Market Farming
List archive
- From: KAKerby AT aol.com
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: [Market-farming] root digger implement options
- Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:34:47 -0400 (EDT)
We are considering expanding our root crops next year, for livestock
feeding purposes. When I say "root crops" I generally mean potatoes,
mangels, rutabagas, parsnips and/or large turnips. Maybe some of the
larger carrot varieties, but these will definitely be for livestock feed, not
for market. So "pretty" isn't important. But harvesting them quickly
and cost-effectively is very important.
The last time I planted potatoes, I spent what seemed like the next three
years manually harvesting them. The first harvest was to get them out of
the ground that October, and it seemed to take forever. But we had
volunteers coming up for several years later, which tells me that I really
didn't do a good job digging them up manually. It was such a distasteful
job the first time around I swore I'd never grow them again other than for
occasional home use. But now here we are, thinking how nice it would be to
be able to grow them on a larger scale, IF we can figure out how to harvest them
more effectively.
I Googled "potato digger" and got a wide variety of implements,
ranging from black-and-white photos of what Grandpa used "back in the
day", to shiny new looks-about-the-right-size imported from China, to
industrial-sized monsters that could eat my house. I'm looking for an
implement that will efficiently harvest a wide variety of root crops, be
small enough to pull behind a 20hp tractor with Class 1 three-pt hitch, large
enough to comfortably harvest a few acres of any given kind of root crop,
without costing the amount of a small country's yearly operating budget.
Oh, and since we're fantasizing here, it should be readily available on the
used market for not-very-much-money, with easy-to-find replacement parts, and be
simple enough that we can service in our own workshop or hire a local skilled
mechanic, rather than exporting it back to whatever was its distant
country-of-origin for repairs.
Any suggestions as to make/model/manufacturer? And if my fantasy
machine doesn't exist, what are my options from amongst the tools that do
exist? Thanks all.......
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
Ruminations - essays on the farming life at
frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html |
-
[Market-farming] root digger implement options,
KAKerby, 08/18/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options, Carla Maness, 08/18/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options, MAsteveINE, 08/19/2012
-
Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options,
Mike Brabo, 08/19/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options, charlie taplin, 08/19/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options, Richard Stewart, 08/19/2012
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options, KAKerby, 08/19/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options, Ryan Wood-Beauchamp, 08/19/2012
-
Re: [Market-farming] root digger implement options,
KAKerby, 08/19/2012
-
[Market-farming] Plow or plough,
MAsteveINE, 08/19/2012
- [Market-farming] Spice Bush Berry Pricing, Richard Stewart, 08/19/2012
-
[Market-farming] Plow or plough,
MAsteveINE, 08/19/2012
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.