Do-it-yourself potato digger for walk-behind tractor, dimensions and drawings

The bulk of Russians' garden space is traditionally allocated to potatoes, because our people also call it the second bread. Many have transferred part of the labor of growing potatoes onto their shoulders, or rather onto trailed small-scale mechanization equipment: walk-behind tractors and mini tractors.

And if planting potatoes is not a big job, then hilling them, and most importantly, digging them up is not an easy task. For hilling and weeding, the hiller included with walk-behind tractors is most often used, but for digging in its pure form it is not entirely suitable. Let's figure out what to dig and how to make a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands.

There are several known designs of potato diggers for walk-behind tractors and mini tractors. Let's look at them: from the simplest to the most technologically advanced.

Fan potato diggers

The simplest ones to manufacture are also produced industrially, but most require some modifications.

It is immediately clear that they are based on the same hiller; it is this hiller, buried below the level of the tubers, that loosens and turns the soil. But he brings up the dug potatoes - a fan welded to the back of the hiller. Its role is played by metal rods, welded at a distance of 3–4 cm from each other, diverging and curved in the upper part.

The amount of depth is regulated by thrust wheels, and the transverse bar serves as a footrest, upon which a person, with his weight, provides the required depth to the device.

It is this type of fan potato digger that seems to us to be the most productive. The digging process itself can be seen here:

You will have to modify the shape, angle of attack and other nuances yourself, taking into account your soil, the power and driving performance of the walk-behind tractor on which you plan to install the potato digger, and even the varieties of potatoes that form tubers at different depths.

A type of similar digger without a fan, designed for two people:

Instructions for constructing a passive potato digger for a walk-behind tractor

Making a potato digger yourself is much easier compared to a lot of other homemade devices. To make a passive design, you should stock up on:

• sheet iron for a ploughshare, 3-5 mm thick. Preference should be given to durable steel so that the shovel remains sharp for as long as possible;
• a steel circle or fittings, the diameter of which is 8-10 mm for a grid with a screening function;
• channel or steel strip 10 mm thick for a trailed structure;
• a 30 mm corner to strengthen the installation;
• machine for manual arc welding;
• drill, as well as elements for fastening.

The most effective form of ploughshare is the form of a classic cultivator called “dovetail”. If you need to bend a whole sheet of metal in a straight line, you need to preheat it using, for example, a gas burner. Experts recommend forging the working edge for hardness. Temper the product after giving it its final shape. After welding the rods on the back side, this part of the metal may “release”. Don't worry about this, the work surface will still remain quite strong and hard.

The second design method, and the most preferable, is to use old circular disks - excellent wear-resistant steel. Cut out two sectors using a grinder and weld them at an angle using electric welding. Of course, subsequent hardening is recommended. This plowshare will delight you with a long service life and sharpness.

You can use old agricultural machinery as a stand; for example, you can use the holder from a classic plow. Most people usually do just that. If such a part is missing, a steel strip will do. But the use of channels, and even more so corners, for this purpose is impossible due to too much resistance in the process of cutting the soil.

It is possible to make a suspension from a channel, but it is imperative to provide the ability to adjust the depth of immersion and the angle of attack.

Such a homemade potato digger does not require mandatory supervision during digging and harvesting. If a seat is attached to your motor-cultivator, you only need to calmly move along the rows of ripe potatoes, and the freshly dug up white crop will be visible behind you.

Potato diggers with a roar

This is the most common type of potato digger, produced by various machine-building plants in Russia and abroad. It has slight design differences, primarily in the design of the screen drive - oscillating during operation of the pan, which allows the potatoes to be partially cleared of the soil while the potato digger is moving.

The knife of such a digger can have different configurations. It can be fixed motionless, or it can be hinged and oscillate slightly during movement, simplifying the process of digging up tubers. The width of the knife is 35 – 40 cm.

What type of potato digger can you make yourself?

The most suitable type of potato digger for self-production is considered to be vibration-type devices.

This is a universal mechanism that is used for small and medium-sized areas. Plus it's easy to make. For large fields, it is better to choose a drum-type potato digger.

This is interesting:

A device for sorting potatoes and how to make it yourself

How to make a potato hiller for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands

How to make a shovel for digging potatoes yourself

DIY drawings

It is this type of potato digger, despite being quite difficult to manufacture, that is made by home craftsmen with their own hands more often than others. We offer approximate drawings with the main dimensions of such a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor.

A large number of joints of moving parts makes this device regularly serviced, but the result of its work is of better quality than that of fan-shaped potato diggers:

Potatoes are peeled better from the ground and are located on its surface.

The magnitude and frequency of oscillations of the screen may vary and depend on the design of the drive, but even with minor oscillations, cleaning occurs quite well:

Conveyor potato diggers

They are much easier to make yourself, but in our opinion they are no worse at peeling potatoes from soil.

Their knives are the same as those of the screening ones, and the potatoes are peeled while they move along the conveyor belt. It is clear that the longer it is, the better the potatoes will be peeled, but long conveyor belts can only be installed on potato diggers used with tractors. On walk-behind tractors, they will interfere with the person walking behind him.

The conveyor belt drive may be different. If it is taken from the wheels of the digger itself, then they must have good lugs so that they do not lock on wet or very loose soil.

Also interesting in this design are the rear guides, which more compactly place the potatoes behind the belt.

In this self-assembled conveyor potato digger, the belt drive is carried out from the power take-off shaft of a homemade walk-behind tractor and is transmitted by a motorcycle chain.

To view a picture, click on its thumbnail on the right

When manufacturing a potato digger of this type, the main problem will be selecting the rotation speed of the conveyor drive gear and matching it with the speed of the power take-off shaft. In this model, the power take-off shaft rotates at a speed of 500 - 800 rpm, and the gearbox is taken from a motor boat with a gear ratio of approximately 1:2. The rest is selected by the size of the stars for an approximate walking speed when digging 2-3 km/h.

And yet, the connection between the speed of the conveyor belt and the wheel speed seems more appropriate to us.

There are models designed for specific walk-behind tractors and mini tractors, like this one for mechanisms with a side power take-off shaft:

Attaching the potato digger to the unit

Method of attachment to the walk-behind tractor:

1. They start by preparing the walk-behind tractor. Remove the protection from the power take-off shaft. Remove the locking pin from the tow assembly.
2. A half-cardan is put on the input shaft of the potato digger gearbox.
3. The device is connected to the trailer unit of the walk-behind tractor. Fix with a finger.
4. At this stage, the functionality of the driven and drive shafts is checked. To adjust the alignment, use the adjusting bolts on the trailer unit.
5. Locknuts are used to secure all threaded connections.

One of the most important steps is adjusting the length of the half-cardan. It is installed so that there is a gap of 5-10 mm relative to the gearbox.

To connect to a mini-tractor, you will have to purchase a special mechanism designed to connect a potato digger as an attachment.

Drum potato diggers

This is a rather rare type of equipment for mini-equipment, so it is mostly homemade. Peeling potatoes from soil in such devices occurs quite efficiently, as does laying them on the ground, but the design itself is quite controversial, and the tubers are more damaged than when digging with the above-mentioned potato diggers, and therefore are worse preserved.

What is simpler about them is the direct drive of rotation from the power take-off shaft. Everything else: making the drum, thrust rollers and bearings is clearly more complicated. The design of the knife does not have any special features, except that it is preferable for it to have a more rounded shape in the back so that the potatoes are not further damaged when they get into the drum.

Types of potato diggers

There are 2 types of potato diggers on the market:

• passive;
• active.

Passive equipment includes attachments that have a simple design and low cost. Such devices are called lancet, fan or simple. The main working element is a shovel on which rods are welded.

This is very reliable equipment, but it has low performance. In addition, approximately 15% of the crop remains in the soil. Other negative points include high fuel consumption and shallow digging depth (15 cm). The working width is 20 cm. This device is mounted on a cultivator or walk-behind tractor.

Active potato diggers are divided into the following types:

• conveyor;
• vibrating (screening).

Vibrating potato diggers work thanks to a ploughshare and a vibrating table. The design is improved by connecting a mesh. The device is equipped with one or two eccentrics.

Conveyor models are divided into belt and conveyor models. Their main difference from other models is the presence of a belt on which the soil with potatoes is sifted. The fuel consumption of such models is minimal, and the harvest percentage reaches 98%.

There are also drum potato diggers. They are used over large areas. The device consists of 3 main elements:

• knife;
• frames;
• rotating drum, which is made of steel rods.

The knife is mounted on the frame using a hinge joint. He cuts off the layer of soil along with the potatoes. As the drum rotates, lumps of earth break up and spill out through the grate, and the tubers fall out onto the arable land.

Which is better

There are many popular models. Before making a final decision, it is important to decide on the following parameters:

1. Area of ​​the treated area. The power of the technology depends on it.
2. Soil quality. The simplest equipment will not cope with hard ground.
3. Humidity. Cheap and low-power potato diggers do not work well with wet soil.
4. Device dimensions. Wide ones are used on large plantations, and narrow ones are used in vegetable gardens for single beds.
5. Type of peeling potatoes from soil. Different models of potato diggers clean clay, loam, black soil, and sandstone in different ways.
6. The presence of additional elements, for example, wheels.
7. Type of fastener.
8. Cost of the device.
9. Condition of the main equipment, i.e. walk-behind tractor or mini-tractor. Modern attachments are often not suitable for outdated models.

Horse-mounted potato digger

There are still quite a lot of them for sale on the Internet. They are imported mainly from Poland and converted into mini tractors and walk-behind tractors.

At the same time, taking into account the higher speed of movement of this equipment in comparison with a horse, in addition to modifying the towing device, a limiter-shield is placed on it on the side on which the dug potatoes are thrown. Otherwise, it will have to be collected in neighboring areas. A wedge-shaped paw digs up the potatoes, as in fan diggers, and the drive of the device that removes the tubers from the ground is carried out by wheels with lugs. The higher the travel speed, the faster this potato extractor rotates.

Dear readers, if you have any questions, please ask them using the form below. We will be glad to communicate with you;)

Attachments for different types of equipment cost an impressive amount of money.

That is why one of the options to save money is to make it yourself, from scrap and purchased materials.

One of the most popular additional devices for a mini-tractor or walk-behind tractor is a homemade potato digger.

It allows you to fully automate the process of harvesting potatoes, which is extremely labor-intensive if done manually.

What is a potato digger

Potato digging for a walk-behind tractor, a common vehicle on a personal plot, is becoming increasingly popular. To perform various works, attachments are installed on it. One of its most popular types is the potato digger.

This device allows you to separate potatoes from the soil and throw them onto the surface of the earth without damaging them. All that remains is to collect the tubers in a suitable container. The mechanism is used both in large farms and in small areas.

Factory-made products are expensive: prices range from 6.5 to 13 thousand rubles. There are also cheaper Chinese-made models on trading platforms, but their quality is questionable. Therefore, it makes sense to start making a potato digger for use on small acreage.

Craftsmen who have tried homemade equipment in action talk about its many advantages:

1. Ease of use.
2. Increased labor productivity.
3. Selecting design dimensions suitable for use by the farmer.
4. The ability to sharpen rods to suit the characteristics of your soil, as well as a specific model of walk-behind tractor.
5. Good harvesting speed - it is possible to select tubers on an area of ​​0.1-0.2 hectares in 1 hour.
6. Optimization and relief of physical activity.
7. Gentle removal of tubers from the ground.
8. Significant cost savings.
9. Possibility of using for digging other root crops, cultivating soil in the garden and in the garden.

The only drawback is that a homemade digger will only be effective on light and medium-heavy soil.

What does it look like

The attachment has a simple design, so making it yourself will not be difficult.

Attention! The digger is used in an area cleared of grass and tops, otherwise the fasteners and grate will quickly become clogged.

Externally, the device resembles an ordinary wheelbarrow, but differs in the presence of teeth and mechanisms for rotating the transport belt. It is also equipped with an element for fixing to a walk-behind tractor or mini-tractor.

Comprises:

1. Frames.
2. Elevator for transporting potatoes. It is a mesh or lattice that performs the function of cleaning tubers from the soil. Equipped with side walls to prevent potatoes from falling out.
3. Shafts that cause the grate to vibrate.
4. Plow with knives (ploughshare).
5. The supporting mechanism that sets the structure in motion. It includes wheels, bearings, hubs, chains, etc.

Principle of operation

A potato digger for a walk-behind tractor helps to extract not only potatoes from the ground, but also beets, carrots, onions, and garlic. It works like a shovel or plow, but teeth or rods are welded to the parts.

This happens as follows:

1. The plow is immersed in the ground to a depth of 20 to 50 cm.
2. When moving, the walk-behind tractor pulls out the tubers along with the soil, after which the mixture falls on the grate.
3. On it, the earth is sifted thanks to vibration, and the cleaned tubers fall into a container. There may not be such a collection, then the potatoes will fall to the ground. Afterwards, all you have to do is walk across the field and harvest.

Compared to a shovel, a potato digger significantly reduces the consumption of physical force.

Reference. This type of technique allows you to avoid damage to the tubers and carefully harvest the crop. If the surface of a vegetable is slightly scratched, it is better to eat it immediately.

Where to begin?

Do not rush headlong into tools and pieces of metal. First of all, you should decide on some very important points.

• What type of equipment will the potato digger be used with?
• How much can be spent on this event?
• What type of potato digger and according to what drawings will it be assembled?
• How will the individual parts be connected?
• Where and how will materials for construction be selected?

Connection method - welding or bolt-nut?

There are two ways to connect individual parts of metal structures (sheets, corners and others) that you will have to use when constructing a potato digger.

Contact welding method using electricity or gas

– more aesthetically pleasing, but less reliable in most cases.

If there is a large load on the structure, which may occur when used on hard and rocky soil, there is a possibility of the seam between the metal structures breaking.

Another way is using a bolt, locknuts and nuts.

Using such fasteners, you can connect the metal structure quite firmly.

A bolted connection has other advantages over a welded seam.

If necessary, the structure can be easily disassembled - for example, if you need to transport a potato digger over a long distance.

To connect individual parts you do not need special equipment: a drill, a drill bit and a pair of keys are enough.

What is needed to assemble a homemade potato digger?

The basis of this type of attachment is usually a welded frame made of metal corners. The thickness of the metal is selected taking into account the load it will experience.

The larger it is, the thicker the sheet of metal should be. The most commonly used corners are those with overall dimensions of 63×40 mm. You will also need an iron channel made of durable metal.

Ideally for this case, a part marked with number 8 is suitable. In addition, sheets of metal of various sizes, with a thickness of at least 8 mm, are required.

If everything will be connected with bolts, you should purchase the required amount of hardware.

You will also need:

• a chain that will transmit torque;
• wheels - metal or rubber, depending on the type of soil on which you will have to work;
• metal drum;
• gas pipe with a diameter of ¼.

Operating principle and assembly of a homemade potato digger

The operating principle of a potato digger is quite simple.
The design contains two steel knives that cut the ground. Afterwards, they collect the tubers along with the soil and feed it all along a special transport grid into a collection bunker.

The lattice moves and vibrates, as a result of which the stuck clods of earth are easily separated from the potato tubers.

If there is a lack of material, the bunker can not be made, and the potatoes, cleared of adhering soil, can be dumped directly on the field. Then it is simply assembled by hand.

Assembling the potato digger is carried out in several stages. They are all equally important, each detail performs its function.

The stronger all connections are made, the longer the assembled device will last.

First of all, the frame is assembled from corners and metal channels. It is the supporting basis of the entire structure. After its assembly, all other components are attached to the frame.

One of the largest and most important parts of a potato digger is the elevator.

It consists of a vibrating grid on which the potatoes are fed, and high metal sides made of thick sheet metal.

The entire elevator structure is welded or bolted from metal angles.

The elevator is equipped with special shafts, which transmit the force from the rotating wheels - it causes the grate to vibrate.

After the elevator is completely assembled and fixed to the supporting frame of the potato digger, a ploughshare is attached to it. This is a plow, which is the direct working part that turns potato tubers out of the ground.

It can be made from a variety of metal objects. Both from a real, most ordinary plow, and from a specially sharpened and curved piece of pipe with a diameter of 200 mm.

It is advisable to attach the ploughshare to the elevator using bolts, since this part of the potato digger experiences the greatest load during operation. 10mm bolts are exactly what is needed in this case.

The penultimate stage is the design and assembly of the support and transport unit. It consists of wheels, discs to which they will be attached, two roller chains and a metal rod. There are also sprockets and bearings.

All these assembled parts will make moving the potato digger during operation extremely simple and easy. Roller chains are used to transmit rotation to special shafts that create vibration on the elevator grate.

The sprockets are mounted on a metal rod, which acts as a bridge and rotates as it moves. Metal disks are welded to the rod, and wheels are subsequently attached to them.

Special attention should be paid to the method of connecting the equipment to the agricultural machinery that will set it in motion.

The construction of this device is the last stage in assembling a potato digger with your own hands.

If you have any attachments for a tractor or walk-behind tractor, you should simply make a structurally similar mount.

Although some well-known manufacturers of mini tractors create an individual and rather complex system for connecting attachments.

In this case, you should show engineering thought and find an approach to solve this problem. Perhaps a way out of the situation could be to make changes to the design of the tractor itself.

How to make your own potato peeler

This type of potato digger is also called a vibration digger. Its operating principle is as follows. Just as in other versions of potato diggers, a ploughshare is used here, with the help of which the potatoes are removed from the ground and gradually moved back while moving. Then the root vegetables, mixed with soil, fall onto a grate that constantly vibrates. In this case, the earth crumbles, and the potatoes move backward until they fall to the ground.

On a note. This homemade potato digger is suitable for the T 40 tractor.

For manufacturing you will need materials and tools:

1. You will need a grinder saw.
2. To create reliable connections you will need a welding machine.
3. When creating bolted connections, you will need to drill holes in the metal. For this you will need a drill and appropriate drill bits.
4. To create a frame, it is customary to use a square metal profile. It is necessary to prepare one whose cross-section is 2.5 by 2.5 cm.
5. Steel sheet, the thickness of which can be from three to five millimeters. It is used to make ploughshares.
6. You will need to make a vibrating basket from 8 mm thick wire, the relative strength of which will be sufficient.
7. Wheels on which the potato digger will move.
8. Bolts and other consumables.

The following is how to make a potato digger with your own hands:

1. First, you need to cut pieces of the metal profile in such a way as to make a rectangular metal frame from them.
2. Weld the wheel stands. They are made from pieces of metal profile that need to be attached in a vertical position.
3. The screening basket will be attached to special hinge holders. At this stage they need to be welded to the frame.
4. Now you need to install mechanisms that will create vibration using a reciprocating motion. The torque will be transmitted from the motor of the walk-behind tractor.
5. A ploughshare is made from a steel sheet. To do this, you need to not only cut it in the right way, but also bend it.
6. Now it's time to attach the share to the structure. To do this, it is attached on special hinges to the screening basket and to the frame.
7. Wheels are installed on the unit.

] On a note. When making a ploughshare, you can choose different options: it can be made pointed, convex or concave.

When making a plowshare, you can choose various options

In most cases, the width of the working strip is approximately 40 cm. The knife is immersed in the soil to a depth of 25 cm.

Important! The depth of immersion of the plowshare into the ground can be adjusted. This can be done by adjusting the height of the potato digger wheels.

Yield losses with this method of processing are insignificant. In different situations, this value can range from 2 to 10%.

Before cultivating the area, it is recommended to completely clear it of potato tops and weeds so that they do not interfere with the harvesting of tubers.

Thickness of the metal used to assemble the potato digger

The optimal metal thickness that should be used for this type of homemade equipment is 5-7 mm. It is this size that guarantees fairly high strength and not excessive weight.

If the work of harvesting potatoes will have to be done on land that has excess moisture, then the lighter the machine, the better. In this case, you can use material of smaller thickness.

If the soil is hard and rocky, then the greater the weight of the potato digger, the better. With its weight it will create the force necessary for work.

It will be easier for the ploughshare to cut into the ground and turn the layers of earth outward along with the potato tubers.

What wheels to use to construct a homemade potato digger

For the type of equipment under consideration, three types of wheels can be used:

• rubber with regular tread;
• rubber with tractor tread;
• metal.

Each type has both its advantages and disadvantages. The use of any of them is fully justified in different cases.

If the soil is wet and loose and easily collapses under heavy weight, you should focus on rubber wheels.

They are quite light, and the tractor tread of the rubber tires will easily rake the ground, which will allow the equipment to move off without difficulty, without slipping or getting stuck.

Also, when designing a potato digger, you should choose the widest possible wheels, otherwise movement will be somewhat difficult.

Metal wheels are perfect for working on hard ground.

They will significantly increase the overall weight of the structure, which in this case is only beneficial: it will be easier for the plow to stick into the ground and perform its function.

It is also advisable to choose a tractor tread for all-metal wheels in order to avoid getting stuck and skidding when driving on loose and marshy soil.

Finger drum

If possible, a finger drum can be installed on the elevator. It is a piece of pipe onto which fingers of the required length are welded.

The part should be of such a size that it does not reach the grill by just a couple of centimeters. The drum is mounted on a special axis, which has a welded sprocket.

Using a chain drive, the drum axis is connected to the wheel shaft.

If everything is done correctly and the calculations are correct, your fingers will break up the hard, dried soil, which falls along with the tubers onto the elevator grate. As a result, the potatoes will be as free as possible from adhering soil.

To make this option you will need:

• 
  large diameter pipe cut
• round sheets of metal
  , which will subsequently cover both holes in the pipe;
• steel rod
  , which will serve as an axis of rotation;
• long cylindrical metal fingers
  (you can use reinforcement used to reinforce concrete).

The entire structure is manufactured using resistance welding.

Buying a factory potato digger is a very expensive undertaking. Therefore, if you don’t have extra money and have a lot of time, as well as a well-working head and hands, you can easily save a decent amount.

After watching the video, we can conclude that it is important to be careful and conscientious about your work, then a homemade potato digger will be able to serve you without breakdowns or downtime for a very long time:

Probably, every owner of a large personal plot or vegetable garden wants to minimize the labor intensity of land work and reduce the time of tillage to a minimum, which is why gardeners strive to acquire a walk-behind tractor and various equipment for it. If you are the happy owner of this useful equipment and like to grow a lot of potatoes on your plot, then it makes sense to think about the need for a potato digger for mechanical harvesting. Now you can buy various designs and improved equipment for all types of walk-behind tractors, or you can put in a little effort and make a digger for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands. In this article we will introduce you to the varieties of this device and tell you how to make a potato digger yourself.

Do-it-yourself potato digger - design features

There are two types of household potato diggers:

simple and vibration. The principle of operation of potato diggers of all types is the same - the rawl, ploughshare or tines are immersed in the soil and extract potato tubers onto its surface. Thus, the gardener will not need to manually dig out potatoes from each hole - the gardening unit will do it for him. Both types of diggers can be made independently from available materials or you can buy some components, the cost of which is low, and save your budget.

Simple digger

is an attachment in the form of a pointed curved iron sheet to which rods are welded in a fan-shaped manner. This mini-ploughshare cuts the soil and lifts the tubers along an expanding fan of twigs, while sifting out excess soil. A simple digger, which is attached to a walk-behind tractor, mechanizes potato harvesting.

The vibrating digger
is a conveyor potato digger for use when working with a walk-behind tractor. Complete with screening grid and wheels. The harvesting mechanism with such a digger is simple: the soil is cut with a rake, which goes along with the potato tubers onto a grid, where the root crops are sifted from the clods of earth and then rolled along the screening grid to the soil surface.

Important! It makes sense to make a potato digger yourself for cultivating areas with light and medium-heavy soils.

Types of potato diggers for walk-behind tractors and which one is better to choose

Different types of potato diggers for walk-behind tractors may differ in a number of ways. Usually there are five main devices: fan, screen, drum, conveyor, conveyor.

Fan

A fan potato digger is the simplest and most versatile unit. The name of this device is explained by the arrangement of the teeth. They are made of equal-length pieces of reinforcement connected in a fan shape.

The structure of a fan potato digger is similar to an agricultural plow

The principle of operation does not have significant differences with other types of potato diggers: the device is immersed in the ground and catches tubers, which, in turn, are sifted from the ground due to the large distance between the teeth. Finally, the fruits dug up and cleared of soil end up on the surface of the beds, where they can be conveniently collected by hand.

Grohotnaya

The main difference between a screening potato digger and other types of devices is the presence of a lattice compartment. It is located at an angle relative to the ground, which allows the teeth to be driven into the soil with less effort. Also, due to the additional support point and a pair of wheels, the screening unit has a more stable design than a fan potato digger.

The potato digger got its name due to the noise and vibrations produced during operation.

The advantage of the screening device lies precisely in the grid. Due to the constant oscillatory movements of the compartment, the collected tubers are cleared from the soil more efficiently and quickly.

In the video about potato diggers for walk-behind tractors, it is the screening version of the device that most often appears in work, since it is most applicable when cultivating both small and large plots of land.

Drum

A potato drum digger is a fully mechanized device that can make the harvesting process as easy as possible. Thanks to this unit, the fruits are not only dug up and cleared of soil, but also transported to a separate box.

The design of the device implies the presence of a lattice drum. The fruits fall into it directly after being dug up by the plow. Due to continuous rotation, the tubers are cleared of excess soil and then sent to a pre-prepared container.

Most often, they resort to making a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor with a drum with their own hands in order to facilitate harvesting, but this condition is not always feasible.

The drum unit can only be used on soft, loose soil.

Conveyor

The conveyor potato digger is used less frequently than other types of devices. The operating principle of this unit is to move a layer of earth with root crops along a conveyor. The process of clearing fruits from soil in this way is slower than in a drum or screen potato digger, so it may take more time to cultivate the soil.

When working with a conveyor potato digger, the type of soil is important; the device is not applicable in areas with wet or sticky soil

Attention! The use of a conveyor potato digger is not recommended in areas where weeds grow. Long plant stems get wrapped around the partitions, which can lead to device failure.

Conveyor

Another type of device that is rarely found in the personal use of landowners is a conveyor potato digger. It is a structure consisting of a bucket and a belt. Together with a piece of soil, the fruits are placed in a container and then move along a conveyor. During the process, the tubers are cleared of soil and placed on the surface of the soil, where they are subsequently collected by hand.

Using a conveyor potato digger, it is possible to process several beds at once

Despite the variety of units, fan and screen potato diggers are considered the most universal devices. They are suitable for all types of soil and do the job well. You can also often find a drum potato digger in use by farmers, but for its operation it is necessary to take into account the operating requirements.

How to make a potato digger with your own hands: choosing material and tools

In order to make a regular homemade potato digger for a walk-behind tractor, you will need the following materials:

• frame made of welded corners, the size of which is 40 by 40 mm;
• sections of pipe or channel 1.3 m long;
• fittings with a diameter of 10 mm;
• metal sheet with a thickness of 7 mm or more for the sides of the fence and ploughshare;
• pieces of square pipes or channels for metal racks - 8-10 pieces;
• rotary metal drum and chain for transmitting rotation;
• wheels, bolts and hardware.

Did you know?
A vibrating potato digger for a walk-behind tractor ensures harvesting up to 95% of the entire potato harvest, and a simple fan one – up to 85%.
Equipment and tools needed to create a potato digger with your own hands:

• welding machine;
• drill and drill bits;
• metal scissors;
• hammer, wrenches;
• Bulgarian.

DIY vibration option

A screening (or vibrating) type digger has moving parts, which significantly complicates the design, so the mechanism requires precise manufacturing. However, a device of this type performs well on hard and wet soil, cutting it well. You need to know how to make a potato digger with your own hands without outside help in order to save money.

Manufacturing procedure:

1. Form a frame. Cut the pipe into 4 parts. It is advisable to use blanks with a square cross-section - these are easier to join. You need two pieces 120 cm long, and two 80 cm long. The cross-section of the pipe is 4 by 4 cm. The parts are connected by welding into a rectangle.
2. Install jumpers that will serve as the basis for control rods. On one side, elements are mounted a quarter of the length of the base of the frame, and on the other, two blanks for fastening the wheels. To do this, you will need two tubes with a diameter of 3 cm and a length of 15 cm.
3. Install the racks vertically. On the side where the jumpers are located, 2 sheets 50 cm long are fixed at a distance of 5 mm from the edge of the frame. At a distance of 20 cm from them, racks 4 cm long are installed. Then another 40 cm are retreated and racks 30 cm long are installed.
4. Ralo is made of metal sheet. It should be 40 by 40 cm in size and at least 3 mm thick. The workpiece is rigidly attached to the racks from below. The second workpiece, measuring 70 by 70 cm and 4 mm thick, is butt welded to the first, then the shape is bent into a cone with a sledgehammer.
5. The grille is made of metal rods with a diameter of 1 cm. At the bottom they are attached to the railing, and the second end extends beyond the perimeter of the frame. You will need 10 to 15 rods. For additional rigidity, two rods should be welded across the structure.
6. The wheels are installed in a pre-prepared place.

Features of making a simple potato digger

A simple potato digger is an improved curved shovel that plunges into the ground below the level of potato tubers and pushes them to the surface. By correctly calculating the width of the digger and the angle of inclination of the cutting tool, during harvesting you can loosen the soil, which will not need digging. Making a simple potato digger is simple - three sheets of iron are welded together and attached to the walk-behind tractor with a special fastener. The simplicity of the design and the small number of component parts allow it to be manufactured by a novice agricultural machine operator who knows how to work with a welding machine.

How to make a hiller

The simplest hiller is the lister type, which consists of two peak-shaped welded wings made of sheet iron with a thickness of at least 2-3 mm. This device has a fixed grip length due to fixed elements, the tip of which pierces and loosens the ground, so every gardener planning to make a simple potato digger with his own hands must first make drawings of the device, taking into account the row spacing that is acceptable for him, which he usually maintains when planting potatoes. As a rule, this is about 60 cm, and industrial hillers are only 30 cm wide. To make a hiller, you need to take a sheet of metal at least 3 mm thick, triangular in shape, the base length of which is from 30 to 60 cm, and the height is about 30 cm. This element The hiller is bent along the height of the triangle, thereby creating a point that pierces the ground; small rectangles in the form of wings are welded to it, the span of which will be equal to the width of the rows. 7-10 rods approximately 30 cm long are welded to the main triangle in a fan-shaped manner. For better rigidity, the tip of the triangle is reinforced with an iron strip no less than 3 mm thick.

Important!
A rigid stand-mount will prevent overloading the walk-behind tractor engine during operation.

Attaching the potato digger

To attach the potato digger to the walk-behind tractor, you will need a metal rectangle 50*520 mm, the metal thickness of which is at least 10 mm. Holes are drilled on it to regulate the depth of immersion of the digging tip into the ground to avoid cutting the tubers. It makes sense to strengthen the rigidity of the tip and wings by connecting the edges of the wings with an iron plate, to which a structural post will be welded, bearing the entire load of earthworks when harvesting potatoes; if possible, this metal part can be pre-hardened.

Making a potato digger for a fan-type walk-behind tractor

The advantage of a fan potato digger over others is its reliability and ease of manufacture. This unit can be used for more than one year. It has no rotating parts, which become unusable under heavy loads. Potato digging is done quickly and efficiently.

The main purpose of a potato digger is to separate potato tubers from the soil and lay them out on the ground area. This unit is easy to operate and has a simple design. Therefore, constructing it with your own hands is usually not particularly difficult. The most important thing is that this attachment mechanism is suitable for any model of walk-behind tractor, be it the well-known “Neva” or another modification.

Before starting work, you need to prepare the following tool:

• angle grinder;
• welding machine;
• engraver or drill.

The procedure for making a fan potato digger

1. stage - Two holes are drilled in the middle part of the ploughshare for fastening to the rack. Plowshare length 22 cm, width about 30 cm,
2. stage - Pieces of steel rods are welded to the expanded part of the knife (to the left and right of the convex part) at a distance of 5-6 cm, with an expansion to the top of 10-12 cm (so that they diverge upward and to the sides like a “fan”) . The length of the rods is 47-50 cm. Sometimes the rods are bent in the form of a marching step.
3. stage - The holder stand is bolted to the plowshare. The height of the stand depends on the design of the walk-behind tractor. The support post can be welded directly to the plow without using bolts.
4. stage - A bracket with pre-drilled holes is welded to the top of the rack (to connect the potato digger to the walk-behind tractor).
5. stage - For structural strength, the lower part of the ploughshare, directed towards the ground, is reinforced with a welded strip of metal.

Rods Plowshare Heel

How to make a screen-type potato digger with your own hands

Making a potato screening type digger with your own hands is a little more complicated, but very realistic to implement. First, you need to make the individual components of this useful unit, connect them together, check the operation of the mechanism, and the do-it-yourself vibrating potato digger for a walk-behind tractor is ready for harvesting potatoes. Let's study all the stages of making a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor. Before manufacturing this mechanism, it is recommended to make a schematic drawing of a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor, indicating the dimensions of the parts for clarity when measuring the material and further welding work.

To begin with, it is recommended to make a frame for the screen digger. To do this, you should weld a rectangle measuring 120*80 cm from a square pipe of 40*40 mm (or corners), which needs to be well sanded with a grinder. Then a section of 40*40 mm square pipe is welded to a quarter of the length of this frame rectangle for a jumper and further installation of rods. In another part of the frame we make a mount for the wheel axle; to do this, from the outside in the corners, we need to vertically position and weld two 15 cm long pipes with a diameter of 30 mm, and use a drill to drill a hole with a diameter of 10 mm in each pipe.

Then you should install several vertical posts - to do this, you need to step back 5 cm from the built-in jumpers on both sides and weld them in a square measuring 3*3 cm and 50 cm long, then step back another 20 cm and weld 40 cm posts, after which step back 40 cm and weld 30 cm posts, the result will be a kind of ladder. Now you need to connect the racks with a metal strip, the thickness of which is 0.4 mm, at an angle of 45 degrees, the result is a triangular structure.

Did you know?
The first horse-drawn potato digger was created by a Russian blacksmith in 1847.

How to make a pitched board and ralo

The next stage of making a potato digger with your own hands is welding the working part of our device - the raal and the pitched board. Ralo is necessary for digging potato tubers from the soil and then feeding them onto a ramp made of iron rods. For the construction of the rahl, two metal sheets measuring 400 * 400 mm, 0.3 mm thick, are needed, in each of which you need to make a hole for a bolt, and also drill a hole in the racks, stepping back 5 cm from the edge, and firmly screw these metal plates to frame with bolts. Then a metal plate measuring 30*70 cm is bent cone-shaped in the central part using hammer blows and butt-welded to the side sheets - it turns out to be a rawl, the edge of which needs to be sharpened for better penetration into the ground.

The pitched board is welded from 8-10 metal rods or pieces of reinforcement approximately 1.2 m long, one end of which is welded below to the raft, and the second extends beyond the boundaries of the digger and moves quite freely.
The rods are welded parallel at a distance of about 40 mm. To strengthen the structure, a channel about 30 cm long can be welded at the end of the frame on both sides - these will be risers to which the bar is welded.
Rods will then be welded to it at a distance of two-thirds of their length to strengthen the pitched board. During the harvesting process, the free edges of the rods will vibrate and break the soil adhering to the root crops. It is also recommended to weld metal plates on the side of the bars of the pitched board to prevent potato tubers from falling out of the lattice structure.

Selection of wheels for the design

We have already familiarized ourselves with the main steps of how to make a potato digger with our own hands; now we need to choose wheels for the design from the following options:

• metal – suitable for use on hard soil, their weight makes the digger heavier and improves the work of the rake;
• simple rubber ones - used for working on loose soil; on wet soil they will not make it possible to transport garden equipment;
• rubber ones with a tractor tread - will make it possible to use the structure in wet soil without slipping; they are bulky and heavy.

Rubber wheels with tractor tread are the best option for making a potato digger. The wheel is equipped with a mount shaped like the letter “G”, which is attached to an axle mounted on the frame of the digger. The wheel can be fixed with a “pin” by analogy with a garden wheelbarrow.

Important!
Wider wheels will make it easier to move the potato digger around garden beds.

Making fasteners

And here we are at the final stage of making a potato digger with our own hands - making the mount and final assembly of the mechanism. The gearbox unit is attached to the axle using bearings, and the transport mechanism is assembled from wheels, roller chains, and metal disks. The axle, as a connecting bridge, should be attached with sprockets; discs are welded to it, to which the wheels are attached. The chain will transmit energy and rotate the shafts, driving the potato digger mechanism.

Then a holder is made with the letter “G”. The long end is attached to a radial part connected to the walk-behind tractor, and the short end is welded to the tip of the rahl. To control the angle of the rafter, the best option would be to connect the beam to the potato digger with two or more bolts.

As a result of all the work done, you will have a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor, very easy to use, in addition, it will be partially dismountable and transportable due to the mechanism being bolted together. This potato digger will help remove potato tubers from the soil, clear a little of the soil and carefully place them on the surface of the furrows. The owner of a personal plot will only have to harvest the crop and provide it with optimal conditions for storage.

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For those who know first-hand what it is to work in the field, grow your own potato crop, and even more so harvest it, understand what a difficult task it is. It’s good that after a long time of this practice, a person came up with a simple invention to facilitate potato harvesting - a do-it-yourself potato digger

. In this case, our grandfathers used an ordinary shovel, and this mechanical device was created specifically to automate the collection of potatoes. The function of a potato digger is to separate tubers from the soil and place them on the surface of the field.

Of course, there are factory versions of this device, but for a more or less experienced gardener it will not be difficult to assemble a potato digger yourself, which will be little inferior to these samples.

Potato digger design

The simple design makes it much easier. It is based on a welded frame, which is assembled from a special corner measuring 63x40 mm, an iron channel number 8, and 8 mm metal plates. A ploughshare is made from the plates, which in principle can be made from an ordinary circular saw. The ploughshare is attached to the elevator casing with 4 bolts tightened with nuts. Thanks to the round sharpening of the part, potato tubers are almost impossible to cut.

The tilt of the elevator can be changed by changing the fastening of the casing to the frame, and at the same time the angle at which the opener digs also changes. The editorial unit is made from two cylindrical metal bodies. They have the form of a glass and a bushing and connect two shafts made of steel - the drive and the driven. These shafts should rotate without difficulty, and special sprockets with welded hubs are mounted on prismatic keys. As a rule, they are made from a piece of gas pipeline measuring approximately 25 mm.

potato digger for a mini tractor can do without a cleaning drum.

, however, creating it is the most difficult part in making a potato digger. Its design includes two roller chains with 94 links, mounted on rods. This design, due to its shape, was called the “squirrel wheel”. This wheel is mounted on two bent disks for strength. In some cases, a bicycle wheel rim is used instead of disks. The “squirrel wheel” is welded to the disks and fixed on two fixed welded axles, on which it then rotates. The shaft rotates on the bearings, and with it the driven sprockets rotate, on which the rotation of the drum itself depends.

The best material for a slider so that the chain-bar tape can easily slide over it is fluoroplastic. The tape itself looks like a “squirrel wheel”, but the rods on it are shorter and there are fewer of them. Sliders are also needed to protect the chain from damage and act as a support.

The easiest part of making a potato digger is its support and transport unit. Each person makes it according to his own calculations. Usually there are no special difficulties in creating it. By the way, similar mechanisms are used in

It is worth making a manual potato digger for compact areas. It is better to buy industrial types of equipment for large areas from manufacturers.

Simple vibration equipment can be easily made from the following materials:

1. Iron channel.
2. The pieces of steel were no thinner than 5 millimeters. Strong steel will be required for the plowshare. A used blade from a circular saw or any other high-speed steel is perfect.
3. Iron corners from rolled metal.
4. Steel or iron rods. It is better to use fittings of small diameter.

The vibration model must be made from a base or frame. The design must include:

• base (the above-mentioned frame);
• suspension system;
• rods for adjustment;
• moving elements (wheels or lugs).

Drawing of a vibrating potato digger for a walk-behind tractor:

Potato digger: do-it-yourself assembly

To assemble a vibrating potato digging device, the following materials are required: a thick metal corner (section 60x40) or a channel for making a frame, a thick steel sheet (6-8mm), a metal rod or fittings.

Additionally for the digger you will need:

• consumable fastenings (bolts/nuts/washers);
• steel pipe (diameter - 300mm);
• wide steel or rubber wheels.

The steel wheels of a homemade potato digger are inferior to rubber ones in terms of efficiency and maneuverability

When choosing rubber wheels, pay attention to the thickness of the tread, the width of the chamber - the wider, the more stable and passable the model will be

The process of manufacturing and assembling the cultivator:

1. Weld the main frame of the device from corners or channels.
2. Make sections from a steel sheet to strengthen the frame.
3. Connect the frame with bolts or welding with reinforcing gussets.
4. Then weld a grid of rods/reinforcements and steel strips.
5. Attach a shaft to the grate, which is responsible for the vibration of the working digging unit.
6. Afterwards, secure the elevator to the frame by welding and bolts.

Make a plowshare knife from a piece of steel pipe, cut it out using a grinder. Sharpen the ploughshare at the bottom. Connect the knife to the elevator and frame with thick bolts (diameter - 10mm).

Now make the wheel fasteners. Craftsmen recommend fixing the shaft for the wheels on the frame racks, but you can also install the wheels independently of each other on each side of the frame on the hubs. The completion of the assembly process is the installation of the wheels onto the shaft or frame hubs.

Work on creating a vibration model

Rules for manufacturing each part separately and assembling the entire mechanism.

The basis

It is optimal to use a square profile pipe 40 by 40 mm. It is better to take a 4-meter piece of rolled metal and divide it into segments of 120 and 80 centimeters. We get four support beams.

From them you need to weld a base in the form of a rectangle at a right angle. Its dimensions will be 120 by 80 centimeters.

Rod mount

It is necessary to weld the jumpers not in the middle of the frame (rectangle), but at a quarter of its length.
On the back side of the base, we fix the square tubes in a vertical position by welding. They are placed outside the base to install the axle. Wheels are then installed on the axle.

Or an engraver makes a 1 centimeter hole in a place convenient for fastening.

Vertical racks

We retreat 5 centimeters from the edge of the frame and secure the square profile by welding. Its length is no more than 50 centimeters. After 15-20 cm, we also fix the square profile by welding, but already 40 centimeters long. After the second rack, we measure 40 centimeters and secure the 30 centimeter profile with welding.

As a result, the design is similar to a metal pair of descending stairs.

Rigidity for racks

It is necessary to secure the racks at the bottom of the structure. To do this, use a strip of metal 0.4 - 0.5 mm. The racks should be connected by welding at 45 degrees, additionally welding the strips together.

Plowshare or ralo

Creating the working part of a potato digger.
A homemade ploughshare must sink into the soil, digging through potato rows for harvesting. To make a ralo, you need metal from 0.3 mm thick. Two “working” blades are cut out according to the drawing and a homemade plow is welded. To give it a three-dimensional shape convenient for gripping the soil, you need to tap the center of the blades with a hammer, after securing the entire structure with a fastening rod.

Making pitched boards

The pitched board is a continuation of the design of the potato digger, or rather steel rods welded to the base. The easiest way is to use reinforcing bars with a diameter of no more than 10 mm and a length of up to 120 centimeters. Every 4-5 centimeters you need to weld the reinforcement, as shown in the photo.

Adjustment rods

An optional element, because adjustment is only needed on problematic (watery) soil.

The rods will easily adjust the desired angle for tilting the reinforcement (pitched) board. The easiest way is to make a movable structure in the form of a frame on which the pitched board is located. The frame is tightened with ordinary bolts.

Support wheels

The design of a digger for a walk-behind tractor, created by yourself, must be equipped with movable wheels for ease of operation and movement.

It is most profitable to equip the digger with wheels from a garden wheelbarrow with wide tires. We purchase axles, attach them to the frame and install the wheels. It is easier to secure the wheels with a pin (as in a garden wheelbarrow).

Manufacturing a potato digger for a screening-type walk-behind tractor

The model for making a potato digger will be the KKM-1 potato digger, since it is aggregated with walk-behind tractors such as "NEVA", "Salyut", "Cascade", "Favorit", "MTZ" and walk-behind tractors of a similar design.

KKM-1

Scheme KKM-1

Potato digger for the Neva walk-behind tractor

Before starting work, you need to prepare the following tool:

• angle grinder;
• welding machine;
• engraver or drill.

A screening (or vibrating) type digger has moving parts, which significantly complicates the design, so the mechanism requires precise manufacturing.

The procedure for making a homemade potato digger of the screening type

1. stage - frame manufacturing. To do this, a metal profile with a side of 2.5 cm square is sawn into four parts. Two pieces should be 1200 mm, and two should be 800 mm. Profile size – 40*40 mm. The prepared parts are connected by welding into a rectangle
2. stage – Attaching jumpers. From the video it is clear that they are necessary for installing vertical control rods. This element is attached to approximately a quarter of the length of the base of the frame. At the other end, two elements are attached to install wheels. Such an element should be made of two tubes with a diameter of 30 mm and a length of 150 mm.
3. stage - installation of vertical type racks. On the side where the jumpers are mounted, two squares measuring 30*30 mm and 500 mm long are attached vertically at a distance of 5 mm from the edge of the frame. After this, 40 mm long racks are installed at a distance of 200 mm. Then you need to retreat another 400 mm and secure 300 mm long posts. We connect the racks to each other with a 0.4 mm strip.
4. stage – Making the rala. First, two holes for fastening are prepared on a metal sheet of 400 * 400 mm, having a thickness of 0.3 mm, and at the bottom of the racks. The workpiece is rigidly attached to the racks. The same blank is attached on the other side. Another square of sheet metal 700 * 700 mm and 0.4 mm thick is butt welded to the first element, and then bent into the desired conical configuration using a sledgehammer.

Potato digger diagram

The simplest potato digger for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands

A lancet-type potato digger is the simplest type of attachment for.
Manufacturing does not require special materials, complex drawings or measurements. You will need a bipod, but it can be easily cut, for example, from an old shovel. Make rods from reinforcement or adapt teeth from old forks. A thrifty owner will always find a use for even old broken garden tools.

To successfully use homemade equipment, you need to know the degree of soil density on the site. Otherwise, using such a potato digger will become inconvenient.

Easy to attach to any model of cultivator or mini-tractor. There are no moving parts in the design, so there is nothing to break.