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At the enterprises involved in the cultivation of agricultural crops, powerful and expensive equipment is used. If the farm is small, the purchase of such equipment is impractical. As a rule, for processing 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 - during the movement of the walk-behind tractor, the teeth of the product penetrate the soil and reach the potato tubers to the surface. If you already have a walk-behind tractor, but you 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 heart-shaped shovel. These products have long teeth on top. Such a potato digger works as follows:
- The sharp part of it begins to go deeper into the soil, lifting it. During this process, the potatoes are raised. The tubers remain on the teeth during this process. potato diggers.
- After that, the earth begins to wake up between the teeth, and the tubers roll down 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.
Vibration-type products are most often used. They have a share, and the grilles are mounted on wheels. During the operation of such products, the ploughshare plunges into the ground and, lifting it, directs it to the gratings. In this case, the sifting is mechanical.
Conveyor devices for walk-behind tractors are also used. They are equipped not only with a sifting net, but with a belt that allows them to shake off the soil with potatoes in a better quality. Do-it-yourself potato digger for a walk-behind tractor is often created, which has a simple design.
The choice of a potato digger depending on the type of walk-behind tractor
When choosing a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor, it is worth learning about some of the features of these mechanisms:
- Motoblocks 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 a slow movement speed. In this case, the device must have sufficient traction capacity. If the speed of the gasoline engine is reduced, it will not be able to hold the torque and will stall. If the revolutions are kept at the maximum, the walk-behind tractor moves at a higher speed than is needed to dig out the potatoes. Devices that do not have a reduced speed and run on gasoline are not designed for this type of work.
- Mid-range walk-behind tractors with a vibrating potato digger are often used. They are adapted for most motoblocks 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 should be noted that models of the second type can significantly increase the harvesting speed.
Knowing the features of your own walk-behind tractor, you can choose the right product for digging out potatoes.
Compatibility of products with various walk-behind tractors
The described products should be selected taking into account the characteristics of a particular walk-behind tractor.They can be both universal and designed for specific mechanisms. Vibrating potato diggers are most often used, so it is worth considering them in more detail.
Both universal potato diggers and specialized products designed only for this unit can be installed on Neva walk-behind tractors. When using universal models, the depth of immersion in the soil is adjusted using the support wheels.
When choosing a particular model, one should take into account such characteristics of a potato digger as the width of tillage, the maximum depth and speed of the walk-behind tractor. Width should be 38 cm, depth 20, and the optimal advance speed is two kilometers per hour.
The potato digger for the KKM-1 walk-behind tractor is designed for light and medium soils, which have a moisture content of up to 27 percent. In order not to be mistaken when purchasing a potato digger for a specific walk-behind tractor, it is worthwhile to carefully study the documentation offered to the mechanism in advance. It will contain a list of products compatible with the walk-behind tractor.
Attachments, which were created for Neva devices, differ from universal products in lower weight and width of surface treatment. The productivity of such metal structures is 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.
DIY potato digger
Despite the low cost of the described products, some owners of suburban areas create them on their own. This avoids unnecessary spending. If you have experience with metal, the creation of such a structure is quite simple.
A drawing of a potato digger can be drawn up by examining the documentation attached to a particular walk-behind tractor. The documents indicate the required dimensions and weight of the attachment. Before carrying out work, it is worth preparing all the necessary tools.
It should be noted that you can make with your own hands both a simple product and a vibration-type potato digger. The construction is created as follows:
- At the first stage, a square pipe is cut into 4 parts. Two pieces should be 1200 mm each and 2 pieces each 800. The size of the pipe to be sawn should be 40 * 40 mm. The created parts are connected to each other by welding in a rectangle.
- The second step is to create jumpers. They are required to install the vertical links required for steering.
- After this, the uprights of the vertical type are fixed. From the side. Where the jumpers are located, at a short distance from the edge of the frame, squares measuring 30 * 30 mm are fixed. They must be 500 mm long. The racks are connected by a jumper.
- The next stage is the manufacture of the ral. For this, sheet metal with a thickness of 0.3 mm is used. The sheets are butt welded to each other.
- After that, rods are welded to the ral, which act as sifters.
The use of agricultural machinery greatly simplifies the harvesting process and contributes to the consumption of 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.
