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Enterprises involved in growing agricultural crops use powerful and expensive equipment. If the farm is small, purchasing such equipment is impractical. As a rule, to process a small area, it is enough to have a walk-behind tractor and various attachments. One of the necessary elements is a potato digger.
The principle of operation of such products is quite simple - while the walk-behind tractor is moving, the teeth of the product penetrate the soil and bring potato tubers to the surface. If you already have a walk-behind tractor, but have not yet purchased such attachments, you can make it yourself.
Types of potato diggers
All described devices can be divided into 2 types. The first is different in that they look like a shovel, created in the shape of a heart. These products have long teeth on top. This potato digger works as follows:
- Its sharp part begins to go deeper into the soil, lifting it. During this process, the potatoes rise. Tubers remain on the teeth during this process potato diggers.
- After this, the earth begins to wake up between the teeth, and the tubers roll off and remain on the surface of the earth.
When purchasing such products, it is important to choose the right model for your site. Potato diggers can be designed for light, medium and heavy soil.
The most commonly used products are vibration type. They have a ploughshare, and the gratings are mounted on wheels. During the operation of such products, the ploughshare is immersed in the ground and, lifting it, directs it to the gratings. In this case, sifting is mechanical.
Conveyor devices for walk-behind tractors are also used. They are equipped not just with a screening mesh, but with a tape that allows you to shake off soil and potatoes more efficiently. Often you create a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands, which has a simple design.
Choosing a potato digger depending on the type of walk-behind tractor
When choosing potato diggers for a walk-behind tractor, it is worth learning about some of the features of these mechanisms:
- Walk-behind tractors weighing 110-160 kg are used in tandem with conventional potato diggers. It is worth noting that diesel devices are more efficient. It is important to remember that using a potato digger requires low movement speed. In this case, the device must have sufficient traction capacity. If the speed of a gasoline engine is reduced, it will not be able to maintain torque and will stall. If the speed is maintained at maximum, the walk-behind tractor moves at a higher speed than necessary to dig up potatoes. Devices that do not have a reduced speed and run on gasoline are not intended for such work.
- Middle-class walk-behind tractors with a vibrating potato digger are often used. They are adapted for most walk-behind tractors and can be used on devices of various capacities.
- Heavy walk-behind tractors can be used as with conventional products. So it is with vibration-type devices. It is worth noting that models of the second type can significantly increase the speed of harvesting.
Knowing the features of your own walk-behind tractor, you can choose the right product for digging up potatoes.
Product compatibility with various walk-behind tractors
The described products must be selected taking into account the characteristics of a particular walk-behind tractor. They can be either universal or designed for specific mechanisms. Vibrating potato diggers are the most commonly used, so it’s worth taking a closer look at them.
Neva walk-behind tractors can be used to install both universal potato diggers and specialized products intended only for this unit. When using universal models, the depth of immersion in the soil is adjusted using support wheels.
When choosing a specific model, you should take into account such characteristics of the potato digger as the width of the tillage, the maximum depth and the operating speed of the walk-behind tractor. The width should be 38 cm, the depth should be 20, and the optimal speed of advancement is two kilometers per hour.
The potato digger for the KKM-1 walk-behind tractor is designed for light and medium soils with a moisture content of up to 27 percent. In order not to make a mistake when purchasing a potato digger for a specific walk-behind tractor, you should carefully study the documentation offered for the mechanism in advance. It will contain a list of products compatible with the walk-behind tractor.
The attachments created for Neva devices differ from universal products in their lighter weight and wider surface treatment.The productivity of such metal structures ranges from 0.15 to 0.2 hectares per hour. It is worth noting that the dimensions of such potato diggers are optimized for a specific walk-behind tractor, so they can be more efficient. It is worth noting that they have a lower cost than universal models. When purchasing a potato digger, it is important to pay attention to the quality of its assembly.
Making a potato digger with your own hands
Despite the low cost of the products described, some owners of suburban areas create them themselves. This allows you to avoid unnecessary expenses. If you have experience working with metal, creating such a structure is quite simple.
A drawing of a potato digger can be drawn up by studying the documentation included with a specific walk-behind tractor. The documents indicate the required dimensions and weight of attachments. Before carrying out work, you should prepare all the necessary tools.
It should be noted that you can make either a simple product or a vibration-type potato digger with your own hands. The construction is created as follows:
- At the first stage, the square-shaped pipe is cut into 4 parts. Two pieces should be 1200 mm each and 2 pieces should be 800 mm each. The size of the sawn pipe should be 40 * 40 mm. The created parts are connected to each other by welding into a rectangle.
- At the second stage, the creation of jumpers occurs. They are necessary for installing the vertical rods necessary for control.
- After this, the vertical type racks are secured. From the outside. Where the jumpers are located, squares measuring 30*30 mm are fixed at a short distance from the edge of the frame. They must have a length of 500 mm. The racks are connected to each other by a jumper.
- The next stage is the making of the rala. For this, sheet metal 0.3 mm thick is used. The sheets are butt welded to each other.
- After this, rods are welded to the rahl, which act as sifters.
The use of agricultural machinery greatly simplifies the harvesting process and helps to consume less energy. But in order for the equipment to work effectively, it is necessary to select or manufacture it correctly. That is why it is important to carefully study the structure of the potato digger in advance and determine the optimal dimensions. The process of using the described products is presented in the video.
