How to adjust the potato planter on a single axle tractor. How to properly plow with a power tiller: preparatory work

Homemade potato planter for power tiller with my own hands. dimensions and drawing

The process of planting potatoes seems to be quite time-consuming work, especially if the area of the vegetable garden is quite large. Here one cannot do without outside help, because it is hard and time-consuming to do it alone.

And what should those, who do not have the opportunity to involve their friends or relatives in the planting? The answer is simple. you need to use those automated units that specialize in such purposes.

Recently, power tillers, which are real “assistants” of farmers in the conduct of their farms, have become widespread. With the help of this unit can not only plow land, but also plant potato tubers.

However, without additional equipment, in this case, can not do. Specialized stores offer for this purpose a fairly wide range of models of potato planters, designed for aggregation with a power tiller (such as potato planter KSM 4).

But not everyone has extra money to buy such equipment, so there is a reasonable question. how to make a potato planter for your own hands? Let’s try to answer this question in this article.

Characteristics of power tillers

A single-axle tractor is a type of a small tractor with a single–axle chassis. It is often used in small farms, homesteads and summer cottages. This versatile implement helps with a variety of agricultural tasks associated with tillage, planting tubers or seeds, mowing grass, shoveling snow, hauling supplies, etc. д. During work, the device is held by special handles and controlled by following it.

The first prototypes of modern power tillers appeared about 100 years ago. Now there are many different models, differing in their design, engine power and configuration.

Let’s see the main technical characteristics of the devices in the table:

For small plots, ultra-light and lightweight units are well suited, but usually they can only be fitted with an okra and cutters

Various models are equipped with additional equipment that allows plowing, planting, hoeing, harvesting, etc. д. For potatoesatoes cultivation usually use potato planter, ridger, plough.

The machines can operate on gasoline or diesel fuel. Diesel, as a rule, have a low power, but are more economical, compared to gasoline.

To correctly choose a suitable model, you need to consider several factors at once: the area to be processed, the possibility of using additional equipment, the weight of the unit, power, cost.

necessary materials

In principle, for making a homemade potato planter, the materials that many gardeners have at their disposal are enough. At the worst, we can go to the nearest junkyard, where you can find a lot of parts and related materials that may be useful to us in the assembly.

The necessary material

Here is a sample list of what we may need:

As we can see, we will need quite a lot of metal, which in itself implies the use of a welding machine. Therefore, if you do not have the skill to work with it, then the assembly of homemade potato planter will be inaccessible to you.

The list of necessary materials does not include various components, which will be discussed in detail during the description of the technology of construction of this device.

Instructions

All potato planter attachments have about the same instructions for use:

• The first thing to do is to fill the potatoes into the hopper. Choose potatoes of small diameter so that they can move freely in the potato planting compartments.
• Special spoons pick up the potatoes from the hopper and send them into the sowing shaft.
• From the sowing shaft send the roots into the ground.
• Cultivator discs bury the potatoes with earth.

Planting potatoes with a potato planter with a power tiller is much easier when compared to planting potatoes by hand. Almost everyone can afford to buy this device for the tiller. The price of the device is not so exorbitant.

In addition, the automatic planting of potatoes will save time and energy of farmers.

Varieties and description of planters for a power tiller

Planting garlic and other crops with a power tiller can be done with different planters. Below we will consider the design features of each type of planter for the power tiller in more detail.

Regular seed drills

Devices of this kind are used for row seeding and simultaneous seeding of seeds into the soil. Depending on the purpose, there is a row seeder for a motor-block for garlic, a corn seeder for a motor-block and a universal row seeder, which is suitable for sowing the seeds of any crop.

The basic elements of a single axle tractor mounted seed drills are coulters and sowing units. Special “tines” or chains are installed on coulters, which are necessary for sowing seeds into the ground. For use in areas with heavy soils, row-type seeders with disc coulters are used, while devices with anchor coulters are used for use in loose soil. The main advantages of seed drills are uniformity of sowing and optimum planting depth.

Slot seeders

This kind of devices are perfect if a farmer needs to sow crops precisely into hollows or sockets prepared in advance. Nesting seed drills for power tillers can be successfully used for sowing garlic, onions and other small planting material.

The advantages of seed drills for the power tiller include ease of use. This equipment is notable for its small overall dimensions and weight. Nevertheless, seed drills of this kind are very slow, so it takes a lot of time to work with them.

Square-breeding planters

These seed drills for the power tiller make sockets according to pre-marked points in conditional squares or rectangles. Such designs consist of a frame, support wheels, a mechanism for unwinding the measuring wire from the reel, and seeding sections.

The advantages of these devices for the power tiller include the ability to cover a large area when working. One of the disadvantages of these machines is their heavy weight, because of many metal parts. These seeders are not capable of high speed, which leads to loss of time when working with it.

Scattered seed drills

Devices of this type have simple and reliable design, do not require special care and seldom need repair. The principle of operation of scatter seeders on a single-axle tractor is very simple: during operation, the seeds, picked up by a special disc, are subjected to pressure, as a result of which they are thrown out of the seeder on the plot.

The advantages of such devices include high productivity. Among the disadvantages should be highlighted the difficulty of using seeders at the edge of the plot, in which most of the seeds are thrown outside the vegetable garden.

Dotted line drills

These devices are used for sowing seeds of garlic, onions, corn and legumes in pre-prepared sockets, which are set at a certain distance from each other. Despite the complex design and large size of the dotted line planter to the power tiller is easy enough to use.

The advantages of such devices include high precision during sowing and good performance. Among the disadvantages is the impossibility of using such drills in areas with heavy clay soils.

Planting with a potato planter

It’s obvious that it’s much easier and faster to plant potatoes with the help of a potato-planter than the “old way”. with a shovel and a bucket with potatoes. Of course, the potato planter under the single axle tractor is a mechanism consisting of several parts:

• Root crop hopper;
• potato feed mechanism;
• Topsoil loosener;
• disc mechanism for filling the furrow with soil.

This unit consists of several elements Since many farmers and gardeners prefer to assemble a potato planter by themselves, the designs may vary, but the principle of their work is the same: a recess is made in the soil, the seed is immersed in it, the recess is filled with soil. Planting potatoes is divided into several steps:

• To prepare the ground for planting in the traditional way. ploughing or harrowing.
• Adjust the potato planter. adjust the depth of the furrow to be made and the width between the rows.
• Fill seed hopper with potatoes.
• Position the single axle tractor on the plot at the start of planting and start planting.

It is worth considering that homemade potato planters for power tillers are no less popular than the purchased ones. The reason is that the homemade potato planter, made for power tillers, copes with the task no worse than the purchased analog, but it is developed by the owner for himself.

To make a potato planter for your motor-block, you need to have the necessary parts. There are enough blueprints on the Internet, and the construction itself is quite simple. To assemble a potato planter with your own hands, you need the following materials:

• To assemble the hopper. plywood or sheet metal 2-2,5 mm thick;
• metal pipes with a diameter of 25-40 mm;
• a wire with a thickness of 5 mm;
• a chain (for example, the kind that is put on motors);
• bearings;
• profile pipe made of steel, necessary for the assembly of parts of the frame. with a wall thickness of 2 mm;
• wheels.
• welder;
• angle grinder (metal disk is needed);
• a drill with drills;
• pliers;
• hammer;
• screwdrivers.

Do not forget about the appropriate tools for the assembly of the hopper When creating a potato planter for a motor-block with your own hands, the first thing you need to make a project. We choose the type of device, set the parameters of potato planter and put on the drawing. Note that it is easiest to make a potato planter of one of two common and proven types:

• Potato planter with spoon-fed seed. Such equipment includes a belt with fixed spoons for putting tubers in the soil.
• Potato planter with flat-belt feed. provides stacking of potatoes by means of horizontal belts.

Experience shows that the most convenient size of a one-row potato planter for a power tiller is as follows:

• height. 60 cm (measured from the lower edge of the opener to the upper edge of the potato hopper);
• The height of the hopper. 27-30 cm;
• The width of the hopper. 22-28 centimeters;
• wheel cross-section. 15-20 centimeters.

The basis of the design of such a homemade device is the frame of a profile tube. all other elements of the device are mounted to it. The frame includes two longitudinal members connected by three crossbars. If necessary, the frame can be reinforced with steel profiles.

As mentioned above, the hopper is assembled from sheets of steel or plywood, but a plastic cone-shaped container of suitable size can also be used if desired. If such a container is not available, the hopper parts are cut out according to the drawing and connected with angles. Regardless of whether it is a metal silo or plywood one, the finished part must be painted with a single coat of moisture-resistant paint, or preferably two coats. And so that the sprouted potatoes are not damaged, the inner surface of the hopper should be finished with a thin rubber. Once the part is assembled, it is placed on the frame with the help of bolts.

Wheels can be assembled with non-removable grousers. You need an automobile disk, metal strips and spokes. Soil hooks. metal plates of sheet steel will do. are welded to the base at a small angle. But if you want, you can also mount prefabricated wheels of a suitable size on the machine. from a garden cart or other implement. You weld the wheel hubs to the wheels, put two bearings on each and attach the wheels to the frame.

In addition to these parts, you also need rippers and holders. Holders are made of profile pipe. you need to weld two square bars of 50×50 centimeters from it. The bars, in turn, are welded to both sides of the frame.

The tines are cultivator tines made of sheet steel, which are bolted together with the tine bars.

You will also need rippers

The technology of planting potatoes using a power tiller

The planting scheme depends largely on the model of the power tiller and the variety of the potato itself. It is recommended to adhere to the following criteria:

It is important to make sure that the furrows are straight and the distance between the rows is the same. This will facilitate subsequent work on the plot, especially if a single-axle tractor will also be used in the future.

You can mark out your plot with ropes, stretched at a distance, or use a home-made marker for marking.

Use a marker to mark the rows for planting potatoes

It is advisable that the soil is slightly moist before planting. Working on dry and hard ground will require extra physical effort and result in excessive fuel consumption, and in the mud the wheels of the power tiller will simply get stuck.

Preparing the tubers

The potatoes should be of equal size. If the tubers are too big, they need to be cut, which will increase the risk of disease and provide access to pests.

Germination will take about a month. The material for planting should be placed in a warm and bright room (12-15 degrees). If dark-colored spots begin to form on fresh sprouts, this indicates a disease. Tubers that are infested should be discarded.

Potatoes before planting should be soaked in stimulating and dressing solutions.

Important! Keeping the seed in the solutions for a long time is not recommended. It is better to spread the tubers on a flat surface, spray them with preparations and leave them to dry.

Once the soil has warmed up to about 8 degrees, you can begin planting root crops.

Preparing the soil

Preplanting work should begin with the laying of organic and mineral fertilizers in the fall.

Stages of sowing in the spring

Right before planting, it is necessary to plow the soil for about 15 centimeters. This procedure will require a special nozzle. a cutter.

Before planting the crop under the single-axle tractor Neva, it is necessary to remove the fenders from the machine. The main thing. to properly configure all the equipment that is installed on the power tiller. This is to keep the machine running smoothly and with little effort.

Advice! If qualitatively plow the ground, you do not need to harrow the soil.

Harrowing is necessary to saturate the soil with moisture and oxygen. A well loosened soil allows the seed to germinate easily.

It is at this stage that a single-axle tractor will help facilitate the process of preparing the ground before sowing.

Reviews

Many gardeners use the equipment for potato processing. They give their feedback and share their experiences.

Julia, 42

The family used to plough the field every summer with trowels, and it was difficult, because the ploughing was too difficult.к. We have a large plot. We worked all day and by the end of the day we were in bed with sore backs and arms. And just recently, bought a single-axle tractor, and now, my husband himself cultivates the field.

Nicholas, 60

For years I’ve been asking my neighbor to dip my potatoes. Couldn’t do it myself. But this year I was able to buy a gasoline-powered cultivator. Picked a lightweight version with good maneuverability and now, all the work I do myself in a few hours, which is very happy. I do not strain my neighbor, but I do the processing myself.

Sergey, 39.

Started to do some gardening. In spring I planted 15 acres with potatoes. It is not hard to do, but it takes some work. Once I saw a video about plowing potatoes with a mini-tractor. Tired of digging over everything with a shovel, so I bought a single-axle tractor. This tool processes the earth quickly and correctly. No problems so far.

The task of plowing in the digging of the earth and the covering of bushes. This work takes time and effort, but contributes to a good harvest of potatoes. However, special equipment can make all the work easier. It makes life easier for the dacha owners, whose planting areas are quite large. Using a power tiller makes plowing simple and fast, and any dacha worker can do this work, having acquired a little experience.