Potato Plow

[wnymudd]

Radioman,
Glad to see someone else found another use for the bucket. I discovered it last fall also, works great!!

 

[Oldmax]

This is my verson of a patato Plow.

 

[2manyrocks]

There was a design for a plow that was sort of U shaped with round bars coming off the middle part of the U to separate potatoes from the dirt. The center section of the U was flat instead of rounded. I built one and then found that my dirt was just too hard for my tractor to pull it or maybe I messed up the angles cuz mine turned out to be more of a really narrow rear blade than a plow.

 

[bxsjut]

Thanks for everyones's help. It does look like it's the one Earthtools sells and from that lead I found a couple better pictures. I liked the idea about the shanks on each side. I can't quite picture the "U" shaped plow that was mentioned, any photographs? Attached are some little pictures of some antique designs I found. Sorry, I couldn't find anything bigger.

 

[Bret4207]

Thanks for the Earth Tools link. lots of that stuff can be adapted to my Gravelys.

 

[rco]

If the original post was fabricated why not add some rebar side walls and then a rebar basket on the back to catch the spuds? you could space the rebar so that the dirt falls through along with the really small potatoes and just stop periodically to pick out the larger ones.

Just sayin...

but then again, I'm lazy like that.

 

[wawajake]

If a guy like me only had three rows 30 feet long of potatoes to harvest this fall...........would middle buster make do , or is better to just use FEL bucket from sides after rest of garden harvested ?

I am worried my wife planted rows to close anyway for my BX2660 with 42" wheel width ...........but what are thoughts for a small farmer/garden like me ?

I have middle buster , FEL or tiller to chose from

jake

 

[radioman]

I used the FEL last fall to harvest my potatoes. I would scoop them up, lift to arms hieght, let the wife and kids paw through the dirt for potatoes and put in basket. dump rest dirt, move over and repeat! Works great for me for 2 rows of 25 ft long.

 

[2manyrocks]

Sorry for the late reply.

This is a photo of the digger I referred to in post #13. The original plans called for round rods to be welded on the back much like the photo in the OP. I didn't bother because my ground was so hard that I couldn't get it to dig. It might work on elevated potato hills, but I can't say.....

Now if anybody has any ideas how to make this thing work, let's hear them. It's just sitting in the barn collecting dust right now.

The sides and the bottom cutting edge are made from an old grader blade edge.

 

[Ford850]

Sorry for the late reply.

This is a photo of the digger I referred to in post #13. The original plans called for round rods to be welded on the back much like the photo in the OP. I didn't bother because my ground was so hard that I couldn't get it to dig. It might work on elevated potato hills, but I can't say.....

Now if anybody has any ideas how to make this thing work, let's hear them. It's just sitting in the barn collecting dust right now.

The sides and the bottom cutting edge are made from an old grader blade edge.

Since the 3ph doesn't have down pressure, you will need a tooth or 2 to bite into the ground and start the digging action. Maybe a tooth welded flat on each side (left and right sides) of the cutting blade, extending a few inches forward of the blade edge. That might catch the soil enough to pull the main blade into the ground.