Equipment for potato cultivations

[vivie veg]

Has anyone any brilliant equipment for digging furrows and lifting potatoes?

I intend to grow enough potatoes to supply a small village veg round with about 40 to 50 Kg per week, so need some mechanical help, but obviously do not need something so big that I would need a tractor to pull it.

I have an 8 horse power Howard rotavator, but no accessories, although I believe a furrower and potato lifter used to be available.

It would be very useful if anyone has a photo or better still a diagram that I could take to a blacksmith to make one up. OR has one for sale at a reasonable price.

Many thanks in advance.

[Arnie]

Vivie Veg,
Go and have look on ebay there is a lot of equipment for Howard rotavtors on sale,you might just find what you need.

Hope this is of some help to you

Kevin

Have just looked on ebay, and there is a plow for sale it has three days left be fore the end of sale so you will have plenty of time to have a look at it

Kevin

[peter]

The plough on e-bay is not what you want.

What you need is a furrower, looks like a V shaped snow-plough. Try Chester Hudson on http://www.mdr.co.uk/tillerparts/tillerparts4.html , be aware customer care can be erratic, but a MOST knowledgable chap on Howards. He did have some furrowers last year and they are specific to the Howard model.

[Howard Bantam]

customer care can be erratic

Erratic's not the word I'd use

[richard p]

an old neighbour of ours used to grow a large patch of spuds using a grey fergy tractor and a single furrow plough, so it can be done. but if you can find a ridger it does a better job.

[peter]

Have not forgotten you, but the item is on backup rotovator, behind rotovator No-1 at the back of the shed behind everything else. Will try and get to it coming weekend.

Did you try Mr Hudson?

[peter]

Viv, I dug the ridger out and photographed it comprehensively.
Go to http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/I.jsp?c=1 ... 0&y=cu265a where you may need to sign up to download the pic's.
If you need any measurements let me know.

In case you do not know how it fits.
Take out the "walking stick" shape pin across the top of the rotor-box and remove the skid completely.
The "thumb" of the ridger goes in the mounting hole for the skid on the rotor-drive-box, insert hoop-pin and re-insert the walking-stick.
The ridger blade is a bolt-pressure fit on the mounting "frame", one bolt only, I guess this allowed for manufacturing variations and wear.
Hope this helps.

[vivie veg]

Hi Peter,

Got my furrower working yesterday...delayed due to problems with the rotavator, but thats another story.

The Other Half is not impressed and was wondering if he was doing anything wrong. He has rotavatored to full depth, then put the furrower on and rotavatored again and got a bit of a V. The soil is rather heavy clay, so I suspect that this is the fault rather than anything he's done. Hopefully next year (curtasy of duck bedding) there will be more organic matter in it.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

[John]

I realise that this is a bit off topic and we have been exorted to stay on topic by the mods but round here (West Glos) lifting potatoes is called 'bouting' - I can't find a reference to this word anywhere in this sense. Has anyone else come across it?

John

[peter]

John, I had wondered why on e-bay everyone seemed to refer to the furrowere on a rotovator as a "bouter", now I know.

Vivvie, well erm, what can I say.
The one I use drags out a scrape that I find is deep enough to polp the spuds in and then earth up over.
My soil is likewise clay, the long rows I did I managed to achieve lift off several times. The soil being so hard and compacted the rotors took over drive duties and lauched me to the horizon. On these the scrapes was shallow.

I'd say keep trying, it is still easier than by hand, and the soil should be easier as you add more organic matter.

For anything much deeper you'll be looking for a tractor I reckon.

[vivie veg]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for that, I must admit I was not expecting much better, and as we have just had more over night rain, I'll be waiting until the end of the week to get the tatties in (late again!) The only saving grace is that we rarely get frosts before Late October, so there should still be time for the main crops to develope.

I also postponed (forgot)lifting a row of potatoes last year and found that they are still in the ground now and growing well, so I should still get some early potatoes.