potato digger

[kentucky gardener]

did IH make one? I would like one for next year when I plant a potato patch. anything I should look for?

 

[Jim Becker]

Yes. Early ones were single row, ground driven. Eventually they made 2-row PTO powered, not sure if they made any bigger. Look somewhere where they grew potatoes commercially. Thay are probably still sitting around.

 

[300guy]

They made a pull type one also. My Dad had one but we sold it on his sale. It was a double sided plow. So you drove right down the row with it and it plowed the potatoes out. Then we had the fun of walking along, picking them all up using buckets and putting them in sacks!!!

 

[Tim in New York]

I think the old ground drive digger we had and used back in the 70's was an IH. Wish I had paid more attention. I remember only a few things about... 1) Getting yelled at for not centering the tractor (Allis B, MF To 35, IH H) over the row. - I was 12 to start with. 2) the old greased soaked rag DAD put over the blade for the winter. 3) how we dragged it around soaked in oil to free it up when we first got it from the hedgerow. 4) but mostly what a PITA it was to use. Very few rows (50' maybe) , did we dig without a rock getting stuck between the side chain and the chute - sometimes multiple times per row. But - I sure wish I still had that, if only for the memories! We used to sell about 20 bushel per year and use 4 ourselves. And it was sure faster than digging by hand with a potato hook.

 

[SinkholeRoad]

This is the old McCormick digger we are still using today.

 

[Charlie M]

I have an old ground driven IH digger. I do a couple of rows of potatoes every year in my garden and it beats digging them by hand. I wish I had a pto driven one as they are a lot nicer to use but seem to be a lot harder to find and a lot more expensive at least around here.

 

[MeanGene1]

Anybody know of C.L. Haines, in Avoca NY? Potato and onion equipment, diggers, harvesters, and stone pickers. My uncle used to work there, and lived right down the street

 

[joeysmith]

Backhoe works pretty good if you have a Backhoe an a helper

 

[B. White]

We dug sweet taters last week and afterwards I checked online and couldn't find anything within a 500 mile radius of me here in the SE, but hopefully you'll have better luck in your area. Middle buster works good, but I hate going back over several rows with a rake for any hiding or that get covered. The other tractors have a wider footprint than the cub I used to build rows, so this time I put a layoff plow on the cub and it worked ok, but since it isn't as wide as the middle buster I still found a few on the edge that were covered. Got some homemade C tine cultivators on the back that I pulled the vines off with first. In reality the small percentage I find raking isn't worth the effort or getting another piece of equipment, but it took a while to talk sense into myself.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

Yep. Got one here, but it's broken & needs a front truck.

Mike

 

[Super A_sepa]

I got a PTO drive one at a local small auction that had been kept inside but was well wore to pretty much wore out. But it works for the few rows of potatoes we have. Certainly beat doing it with a fork or any other way we've done it. I pull mine with a Super A. Its on steel. Not my first choice but no flat tires for a piece that sits all but 1 or 2 evenings a year.

There was another one at a sale a couple miles away past week that I looked at but it looked just as wore as the one I have and I don't think it had seen the inside of a shed since Nixon was in office. I was shelling corn so I did not make it to the sale to see what it brought.

Just check it out for wear. They are probably all wore by now. The chain links wear, the sprockets wear, and I'm not really sure there is any real good parts source for them. I had found guys online, maybe here, talking about getting new chain several years ago and it was pretty expensive then I thought (~$500-700, 10 or 15 years ago) so I decided I'll run it till it's a real problem. Maybe build up my chain links with weld if I run out of stuff to do.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

We dug sweet taters last week and afterwards I checked online and couldn't find anything within a 500 mile radius of me here in the SE, but hopefully you'll have better luck in your area. Middle buster works good, but I hate going back over several rows with a rake for any hiding or that get covered. The other tractors have a wider footprint than the cub I used to build rows, so this time I put a layoff plow on the cub and it worked ok, but since it isn't as wide as the middle buster I still found a few on the edge that were covered. Got some homemade C tine cultivators on the back that I pulled the vines off with first. In reality the small percentage I find raking isn't worth the effort or getting another piece of equipment, but it took a while to talk sense into myself.

Sounds like you need one of these potato throwers.

Helpful neighbors don't hurt either.

Mike

 

[crsutton81]

did IH make one? I would like one for next year when I plant a potato patch. anything I should look for?

IH did make ground driven and a pto version. My son has this IH model 17 which is pto driven. He pulls it with his Super A. It does a good job.

 

[rustred]

did IH make one? I would like one for next year when I plant a potato patch. anything I should look for?

Yes. But how many hills of potatoes is your plan ?? Did you know you have to hill the potatoes also? It’s nothing to did out 100 or 200 hills of potatoes by hand. I’m saying if you hill them by hand u can sure dig them out by hand. My nieghbor is an old 83 year old batchelor band he plants about 300 hills and it’s all hand work. And your a young guy.

 

[B. White]

Sounds like you need one of these potato throwers.

Helpful neighbors don't hurt either.

Mike

I think I'll stick with my version. That horse eats year round.

I was interested to see him make the second pass for any he missed. After I drug the vines off I removed the sections of three C tines behind the rear tires. I thought after the fact that next time I will leave them on and after we pick up from each row I'll run a wheel down the furrow and let those tines rake it for me.

Got some neighbors that will help too, but they won't take enough with them to make it worth their while, so I usually just give them some when I'm done.

 

[Roadhog1]

I used to "dig" potatoes with a single bottom plow. Get it deep and turn the hill over and the potatoes' role out! it worked for me!

 

[DRussell]

did IH make one? I would like one for next year when I plant a potato patch. anything I should look for?

Check out Wengers in Myerstown, PA. They usually have two or three one row units for sale whenever I've been there. Probably a 9 hour trip for you, but if you like a road trip...