Spud Digger

   / Spud Digger #1  

Hawgee

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2000
Messages
230
Location
East of Seattle, Washington
Tractor
64 MF Utility 35 retired to parts pile.
Has anyone knowledge of smaller 3pt spud diggers?
I've done the plow to plant and middle buster to raise. Air dry and sack. NO
I've seen the older horse drawn ones that like a middle buster, dig and bounce the spud to the ground for air drying. Yes
Can adapt the old stye to 3pt but have not seen this offered new?
We're talking compact tractor size. Not something to compete with Idaho. 40hp and smaller. Cat 1 or 2

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
 
   / Spud Digger #2  
Hi ya
I have never seen a 3pt spud digger i don't even know if ya can get them but have seen a few that would suit a smaller tractor run off the pto and have a long chain and bar kinda set up it has a lifting/cutting bar that gose under the spuds then they go over the bed of bars droping the dirt off as it moves droping the spuds on to the ground MF 35 will run them but they are quite long so i don't think ya could make them 3pt
i'll try and find a pic to show what i mean if ya want
catch ya
JD Kid
 
   / Spud Digger #3  
MB.jpg


Around here it's called a "Potato plow" or middle buster...[$70 - 130.]

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   / Spud Digger
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Your on the right track jdkid. Mayby I didn't explain good enough or in detail. Yes, what you are describing is the item. The flattened spoon or flat digger ran under the spud (with appropriate draft) and raised it to a chain that would bounce and carry the spud to the rear and leave on the surface. Most were wheel driven and pulled with horses. The fact that the older version was wheel driven would allow one to pull as a trailer. There was frame work to divert any residue or tops to the sides. The bounce was enough to separate and clean (depending on moisture) the spud. (potatoE) By the time one did a mornings round, they had time to air out and be sacked. A lot cleaner than a middle buster. (moisture) Total wieght with steel wheels would have been in the 350 to 500 pound catagory. 1 or 2 horse power depending on the firmness of the ground and size of the potato. (or other root crop)
I've asked this before with the same results. Just not a big demand for a root crop digging, bouncing, slinging machine. I better fire up the torch and welder.
If you ask why? see spuds http://www.irish-eyes.com/
Gotta feed yourself between landscaping and mowing.

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
 
   / Spud Digger #5  
hi ya
Yea i do have to ask why .. ya planing to sell spuds??? good prices ,, this year over here the supermarkets (big food shops)had a price war and spuds got down to $2.50 for 10Lb (USD's) some growers left them in the ground .there is a spud digger just down the road from us i could get cheep for ya but the post cost will be a killer :) i had a surf around the net but did not find any but i'll have another look
catch ya
JD Kid
 
   / Spud Digger
  • Thread Starter
#6  
The trout streams and the down under cattle always attracted me to that land. No, I'm not selling. The link is a source for seed spuds not more than 90 minutes away from me. Use to gather up the red norlands into 100 pound sacks and drop them off with people on the way home. 30 years later they still ask where are the spuds. They have never forgotten the taste and texture.
I will have to drag the horse auctions for the materials and make one. Can you see devoted spud people following a compact like kids at a easter egg hunt. Mayby have to do a couple for the few others who might be interested.
Thanks for the info.

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
 
   / Spud Digger #7  
Hawgee,
I know exactly what you're talking about. There is a guy in Boise, Idaho that made a small spud digger about 15 or 20 years ago. Back then there weren't compact tractors like today but they would work on a 40 hp tractor. Basically they looked like a mini spud digger. It attached with draw bar and then hooked up to your pto to drive the digger. This one though didn't leave them on the ground. It had a hopper that they were put up and into. There was a belt chain with dividers that picked the spuds up and the dirt shook out as it was going up to the hopper and dropped them into the hopper. I think it held 250 pounds at a time. They marketed it for awhile to the hobby farmer but it never really took off. Mostly I think it was price that people didn't buy. Anyway there are probably some of those still around. As far as the ones that just dig up the spuds and lay them on a ground there are alot of them back around MT, ID, OR, and WA area but with the antique craze they go for a fortune.

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   / Spud Digger #8  
Hey John! Where have you seen a middle buster for $70? I'm thinking of getting one, and the cheapest I've seen has been $159. Since we're neighbors, I thought you might have a good source!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
I'm planning on using it to dig a trench to lay some pipe. The only problem is that my old Ferguson's three point hitch doesn't have down pressure. Will I be able to use the middle buster to dig across my dirt driveway. The driveway is very hard packed, as it is at least 50 years old, if not older!
Thanks for your help!

Rich
 
   / Spud Digger #9  
Rich,
Farm & Fleet everyday price is 80 some dollars. They were on sale for $74.

18-35034-TRACTO~1.GIF
 
   / Spud Digger
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Thanks for the lead. To think I may have stumbled over one, but was hauling Model A's home from Idaho at the time and not thinking tractors and spuds. I got to laugh when you mentioned hobby farm. I have to believe a lot of compacts are used as hobby tools. I just prefer to cut less grass than my neighbor. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
 
 
 
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