DIY Potato Planter For Tiller

How to make a potato planter for a mini tractor with your own hands. design and drawing

Attachments for various agricultural machinery can significantly expand the use of these units in rural areas. The presence of a tiller or mini-tractor (for example, Russian-made) does not mean that you will be able to perform absolutely any tasks on the ground.

For example, mowing lawns or planting potato tubers will not be available to you without the use of additional equipment.

In many ways, the land is cultivated precisely for planting potatoes in it, because it is not for nothing that it is called the “second loaf”. Of course, many are used to planting potatoes with a tiller (for example, don), manually or using a potato planter for a mini tractor, but you can think about making a potato planter with your own hands.

This is a rather painstaking business, therefore, certain knowledge and skills are needed before starting work.

Potato planters themselves can differ in a number of distinctive features and criteria. Consider each gradation separately.

So, potato planters can differ in the type of technological process:

  • Aggregates for planting sprouted tubers. Such fruits have developed sprouts that can germinate within 20 days from the moment they are planted in the soil.
  • Potato planters planting non-sprouted tubers. Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to store potatoes in the right conditions, when the sprouts are forming normally. For such cases, similar units are used.
  • Mixed potato planters.

Potato planters can differ in the number of rows:

  • Single row potato planters. Such a device is connected to a mini tractor (see here), having one potato tank available. The capacity of such a bunker for tubers will reach, on average, 140 kg.

For more information on the single row potato planter, see

  • Double row units. Has the same design as the single-row potato planter.
  • Both types of units are used for planting potatoes in relatively small areas of the territory, developing a fairly high speed. up to 15 km / h. Due to the fact that they have more compact dimensions, they are much more mobile than 4-row counterparts.
  • 4-row potato planters. Such units are capable of planting potatoes on an area of ​​2 hectares, in about one hour of work. They have a bunker available, which holds about 550 kg of tubers, and also have four planting elements.

In addition, potato planters can differ in the type of their connection to the driving unit:

  • trailed;
  • semi-mounted;
  • hinged.

Instructions

Many people ask the question. how to make a potato planter with their own hands, the drawings of which are on the Internet? Indeed, the network has enough recommendations with a detailed description and dimensions, following which, you can make a sufficiently efficient unit.

The algorithm of actions, in this case, will be approximately as follows:

  • You need to start, of course, with the manufacture of a frame structure, on which the rest of the components will be attached. To do this, we need channels number 8, of which two longitudinal spars are welded, connected to each other by three transverse steel strips.
  • In front of the structure, you need to weld an arch with fastening forks going to the central rod.
  • The frame can be reinforced with two inclined steel beams, which must be fixed with the second side to the middle of the arch. Next, you need to fix the seatpost support, made of a 5x5x0.5 cm corner.Fix it to the side member with our own hands.
  • A plastic type bracket must be welded to the inclined beams. It is to these beams that the potato tank will be connected.
  • For the tank, we need regular plywood, the thickness of which will be about 12 mm.
potato, planter, tiller

We cut out all sides of the bunker, and then fasten them together with steel corners. By the way, it will not be superfluous to treat the box with linseed oil to protect it from moisture.

  • Rubber sheets can be installed inside the tank so that the potatoes are not damaged against its walls during movement. Next, we attach the hopper to the bracket using two bolts.
  • Next, you need to fix the wheel axle and the ripper to the bottom of the frame. In principle, you can see the drawings of a hand-made potato planter, for greater clarity.
  • The wheel axle is a structure made of various parts. As a basis, you can take an ordinary steel pipe, at the ends of which you need to install trunnions. It is difficult to give the exact dimensions here, depending on what pipe diameter you are using.
  • Therefore, the trunnions need to be adjusted to these dimensions on a lathe.
  • In the steel pipe, you need to drill holes into which special pins with spikes will be installed. At the end, they must be brewed.
  • The wheel axle must be secured using steel clamps, using 4 M16 bolts.
  • Wheels from old agricultural machinery can be used as a wheelbase. If there are none, then you need to work a little in this regard.
  • Hubs need to be welded onto the wheels, on which then you need to put on a pair of bearings. Next, we put the bearings on the spikes, protect with a felt gasket so that they do not become unnecessarily dirty.
  • The part holding the rippers is represented as a square of steel rods welded together. At the ends of the square, you need to weld clips of 6 mm sheet steel. Inside them there will be racks of cultivator blades.
  • The seeder for this unit is made of a steel pipe with a diameter of 100 mm. At the same time, the wall thickness of the pipe must be at least 3 mm so that the structure does not bend during operation.
  • A furrow cutter made of 6 mm thick sheet steel is welded on the bottom of the pipe.
  • It is imperative to attach a seat for a person to the frame, as well as a footrest.
  • The very frame structure of the seat is made of corners welded together. The seat can be made of ordinary boards, which are covered with something soft. foam rubber, for example.

    In principle, the dimensions of a homemade potato planter are approximate, based on a specific case. In any case, this scheme is working, so you can safely design the unit, relying on these parameters.

    A home-made potato planter for the T 25 is made in a similar way, because there is no definite value on what will play the role of the main traction. a tiller or a mini tractor. Of course, the power indicators will be different, but the design of the potato planter itself is almost identical.

    Necessary materials

    The potato planter can be made at home, because this does not require the presence of any rare components and special tools. Homemade potato planters, drawings of which can be found freely on the Internet, are made from the following materials:

    • a frame consisting of steel pipes and corners for attaching other structural parts to it;
    • tank (bunker) for potato tubers;
    • gears that will drive the entire landing mechanism;
    • steel parts that form the holes in which the potatoes will be planted, as well as burying them after that;
    • wheelbase.

    These are all the components of the design of a homemade potato planter that must be made or taken from old agricultural equipment. Naturally, the work cannot do without a welding machine, an angle grinder, as well as the presence of various channels, spars and other related materials.

    You can also make a fertilizer dispenser for a potato planter with your own hands, with the help of which the simultaneous planting and fertilization of the holes will be carried out. This is a fairly common phenomenon, because when manually planting, a mixture of ash and chicken droppings, or manure, with the addition of phosphorus fertilizers is often used.

    Of course, it is not necessary to do this, but additional fertilization will contribute to the early ripening of the crop, which is important in our regions, where the summer is quite short.

    You can find out about what a snow blower is for at a summer cottage from this article.

    For example, read the article about the Honda snow blower. a description of the model range, the main features, advantages and disadvantages of the models.

    And this article contains detailed instructions on how to make a snow blower for a tiller yourself.

    Planting potatoes with a planter

    Potato planter is an attachment for automating potato planting. As the planter moves around the area to be cultivated, the drive wheel with grounding hooks rotates the elevator belt equipped with pipe trays. In this case, the potatoes, transported by the lift, are thrown with a certain pitch into the furrow formed by the scraper. Fertilizer coming from a special hopper enters the same furrow through a special channel. Two digging discs fill the tuber to form a ridge.

    The potato planter is a very useful unit in the farm, even if your vegetable garden is not particularly large, so it is purchased or built by itself, it will greatly facilitate your work.

    Specific points when using a planter

    Due to the rather impressive weight of the potato planter, it is necessary to mount the ballast weight on the front of the tiller or mini-tractor during its operation. Otherwise, the technique may become unstable.

    For the convenience of the operator, it is necessary to equip the unit with footboards, ladders and a seat, or better with an adapter for the tiller.

    The frame for the operator’s seat is welded from welded corners, and then the product is given the final look and convenience using boards, foam rubber and leatherette.

    The seatpost is attached using corners to the welded spars, after which a convenient footrest is installed for comfortable work of the sower.

    The principle of working with technology is quite simple. A sufficient quantity of potatoes is placed in a container for planting material and a tiller or mini-tractor can start moving at a speed of 1 kilometer per hour. This low speed must be maintained throughout the route. The seeder sends the seed pipes into the pipes one potato at a time, the driver keeps the machinery moving. This is how the seed is planted.

    Nibbi AE 11 With homemade potato planter. two wheel tractor

    Covering the planted potatoes with soil and shaping the ridge of the furrow is the task of the sealing discs, which do an excellent job with it. Falling asleep with soil occurs because the discs are at an angle to the furrow. As they rotate, they shift layers of the earth and fill up potato seeds.

    If the filling of the planting material with earth does not occur correctly, then there is always the possibility of adjusting the operation of the discs. You can loosen the ladders, then move the disc stands, in this way their depth is regulated. By turning the stands around the axis, you can change the angle of the discs. There are also four special pins for adjusting the position of the discs in the plane. They can be shifted to the side relative to the rest of the discs.

    And one more important point. The potatoes are planted, the furrows are closed, but there are visible traces from the planter wheels on the field, which, although they are made in the form of cylinders of considerable width, nevertheless, nevertheless, compact the earth. In order to remove this defect, cultivation paws were attached to the planter. They loosen the soil after the planter and completely eliminate wheel marks.

    The depth of penetration of these shares into the soil can also be adjusted without much difficulty.

    DIY potato planter for a tiller

    A do-it-yourself potato planter for a tiller is a convenient unit used by summer residents and gardeners.

    Such a unit consists of the following components:

    • Frame with metal wheels equipped with grousers;
    • Bunker for planting material;
    • Chain with cups (conveyor). mounted on 2 sprockets, one of which is fixed on the axle of the wheels, and the second. in the upper part of the hopper;
    • Seed pipe. serves to move a chain with cups and tubers placed in them from the bunker to the moment of planting in the soil;
    • Opener (furrower). cutting into the soil to a certain depth, forms a groove into which tubers are placed;
    • Scrapers. discs or dumps placed behind the frame that fill the groove with the tubers placed in it, forming a triangular ridge

    Drawing (diagram) of a standard potato planter for a tiller

    Made independently, it has a number of advantages and several disadvantages.

    The advantages of this unit include:

    • Convenience and speed of planting. the potato planter allows you to plant much faster and without significant efforts on areas that are large enough on the scale of a summer cottage or farm;
    • Minimization of soil cultivation. such a unit allows you not to use a cultivator, hiller or harrow again. During planting, he loosens himself, makes a furrow, plants tubers in it and “closes” them from above with a sufficiently thick layer of soil;
    • The same depth. a properly tuned home-made machine will plant tubers at the same depth, which will ensure more friendly and healthy seedlings in the future;
    • Compliance with the distance between the planted tubers;
    • Ease of use. planting with such a unit does not require special knowledge and skills.

    Minuses:

    • Mandatory availability of powerful enough equipment. to use both a home-made and a factory potato planter, you need a tiller or

    A motor-cultivator with a capacity of at least 5-6 hp;

    • Presence of skills of a welder. to assemble a frame, a minimum skill in using a welding machine is required;
    • Difficulty to use on heavy soils. Compared to more powerful and durable implements mounted on large tractors, small potato planters have low efficiency when used on heavy clay soils.

    Hopper assembly

    For its manufacture, plywood will be required, its thickness should be from 0.8 to 1.2 mm. We cut out the parts according to the template with an electric jigsaw, after that we process the structural elements with linseed oil or other compositions suitable for their properties and assemble them into steel corners. The finished product can be painted with water-resistant paint that withstands weather and mechanical stress. A rubber lining is made inside the hopper to avoid injury to tubers.

    After these steps, it is necessary to attach the holder of the loosening arms and the axle for the wheels of the unit to the frame of the future planter using bolts.

    The axis consists of a pipe (steel or cast iron), necessarily thick-walled, because it has a very considerable load, spike-shaped inserts or metal trunnions made on the machine and held by pins. After the final assembly of the entire mechanism, the pins must be welded. The wheel axle is fastened using strong steel clamps and the corresponding bolt size.