Farming machinery and tools that every farmer needs have been around for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Since farming began to take shape and as soon as people realized they could plant crops and harvest them, human civilization entered a new age, one in which cultivation became prevalent for survival. In the modern day and age, things are largely the same at least in terms of how important farming is. Being able to plant the most consumed crops and vegetables and then harvest them either for home use of for commercial purposes is how millions live and how billions are able to eat.
On a smaller scale however, in a scenario where a single family runs and lives of a small farm, things operate in much the same way. However, since there is less manpower available, having the proper equipment is that much more crucial. People who have small farms where they enjoy growing their favorite crops often have all the tools they need, and if you mean to plant potatoes, you can hardly do without a potato digger.
Potato diggers or harvesters are important pieces of machinery that are able to ease the workload and make everything faster. In this article we will talk about the key reasons you need a potato digger on your small farm. By the end of the list you will already be browsing for the best and most useful model to get. Once that happens and you start browsing for your first potato digger, we highly advise you to check out tehnos.pl.
What are Potato Harvesters
Although it seems needless to describe them since the name says it all, there needs to be some additional information about these machines if you are to learn why you may need them on your farm. They operate by lifting ripe potatoes from the ground using shares. Both the crop and the excess soil are scooped up and moved onto trails and webs where everything is sieved. Then the crops are moved onto or into a separate unit or another machine, depending on the model. The last part of the process is removing the clods, stones, stems, and stalks by hand until nothing but the potatoes are left.
There are a few types of harvesters that exist, but nowadays most farms either use potato spinners or haulm toppers. The spinners have to be connected to tractors and they are older machines that have to be drawn. Mack in the day horses were used but now tractors do most of the hauling. The spinner has a flat metal piece that runs through the ground and lifts the potatoes. It also has a large wheel with spokes that pushes the crops and everything else to the side. The potatoes must be gathered by hand later.
This is quite an obsolete method since new technology made things much easier and more efficient. And that new tech comes in the form of haulm toppers, agricultural machines that actually cut the stems, or haulms, from the potatoes and harvests them on the spot. These machines are connected either to the front or the back of a tractor and they mount quite easily. These efficient machines often work together with other agricultural machinery to make the process even easier and faster.
Reasons You Need It
Now that you are more familiar with the diggers, let us determine why you need them and how they can help.
1. Convenience and Efficiency
The most obvious reasons are more than enough for every farmer to get a digger. Not only will harvesting potatoes become a walk in the park (farm?), but you will be doing it in the most efficient and quickest way possible. Chances are you already have a tractor since there is no farming without one. So the only logical step to take next if you plan to have potatoes growing on your small family farm is to purchase a digger. Depending on how much you want to plant and harvest you can pick and choose from a wide variety of diggers, large, small, heavy-duty, or basic.
2. No Need for Hiring
If you have proper machinery to utilize yourself, with some help from the rest of your family, you will no longer have to hire people every season to help you with the digging and harvesting. Most farmers dislike the fact they have to get additional hands on deck because it is not the most efficient way of doing farm work, nor is everyone willing to do this work. It is a much easier and enjoyable affair if you can do it on your own, at your own pace, but without sacrificing anything.
3. Speed
With the right technology and modern practices at play, you will be finished with your potato work and get the chance to move on to other farm work. And we all know how much work it takes to operate and run the farm. Potatoes are only a small part of it but difficult and time-consuming enough to be a chore rarely anyone enjoys.
The alternative would be doing it by hand and spending hours on end in the sun. With a digger you will only have to go through your field once and all the potatoes will be harvested and ready for use.
4. No Mess
Diggers are made to do this one thing and they do it without any issues. What this means is that if you position the machine the right way so that it goes along your crops, you will not have to go back and tidy up the place like you probably would without it. It will already turn the soil and make it more ready for the new crops to be planted. Remember, it is all about making your farm like better, easier, and more fun.
5. Lifelong Investment
To finish off our list and round up the five reasons to get a potato digger, we have to say that it is am investment that will last you for decades, probably for the rest of your life. Considering you will be using it a few times a year at the most, with proper maintenance and storing it will be all you and your children, perhaps even grandchildren need for potato work on your family farm.
