How to plant potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, rules for hilling and harvesting

The life of summer residents and gardeners became much easier after the invention of walk-behind tractors. This versatile unit is easy to use. It helps you quickly and effortlessly dig up and weed beds and harvest crops.

This technique is also used for planting potatoes. To save energy and time, you need to know how to plant potatoes with a walk-behind tractor.

Content:

1. How to prepare a bed for planting potatoes
2. What walk-behind tractors can be used for planting potatoes?
3. Preparing the unit
4. Technology for planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor
5. Processing beds during crop growing
6. Harvesting using a walk-behind tractor

How to prepare a bed for planting potatoes

For a good harvest potatoes It is necessary to choose the right place for planting and use suitable soil.

Site selection

Potatoes prefer well-lit places. In the shade, its leaves turn yellow and its stems become elongated. Flowering is minimal or absent at all. The tubers grow small. It is worth giving preference to hills rather than lowlands so that water does not accumulate.

Soil selection

Potato does not tolerate acidic and alkaline priming. Loose loam and sandstone are more suitable for cultivation. In a pinch, sand will do. If weeds, such as wheatgrass or dandelion, grow on the site, then the potatoes will take root there.

Too wet soil attracts parasites, and potatoes become sick and rot in it.But with high-quality processing and timely fertilization, you can get a good harvest in any soil.

Preparing the beds

It is advisable not to plant potatoes in the same place for two years in a row. The land beneath it is depleted, the harvest gets worse every year. If it is not possible to plant potatoes in another place, the soil should be thoroughly fertilized.

In the fall, the beds are dug up with fresh manure to attract worms. Large lumps cannot be broken; they will crumble on their own under the influence of weather conditions. For these purposes, a walk-behind tractor with a plow is used.

In the spring, after the soil has warmed up, the soil is loosened to 10-12 cm in depth and removed weeds and fertilize. The presence of a unit with a cutter makes this process easier.

Mineral fertilizers, as well as humus, peat and compost, are suitable for feeding. Fresh manure is not used before planting. It spoils the taste of potatoes and also creates a favorable environment for the development of diseases.

After applying fertilizers, the soil should be disinfected. Ash, bleach or synthetic chemicals are suitable for this.

It is useful to plant dense shrubs on the north side of the garden bed. It will protect fresh sprouts from cold winds.

What machines can be used for planting potatoes?

After preparing the beds, you need to make a choice. It will depend on the type of soil and the area of ​​the cultivated area.

Loose, light soil is suitable for cultivation. walk-behind tractor weighing up to 70 kg and power up to 7 liters. With. Heavier equipment weighing 95 kg or more can handle clay soil.

On a plot of up to 15 acres, you can get by with a unit with a power of up to 4 liters. With. and a working width of 1 m. For 20-30 acres you will need a power of 4.5-5 liters. pp., working width 80 cm.Cultivation of 50 acres requires equipment with a working width of 90 cm and a power of 6-7 hp. With.

For a hectare or more, a unit of up to 10 liters is suitable. pp., working width is not less than a meter.

Equipment walk-behind tractor for planting potatoes includes the following elements:

• hitch (nozzles are installed on it);
• lug wheels;
• rubber wheels;
• wheel extensions;
• cutter;
• plow;
• hillers (for processing one or two furrows at a time);
• mesh harrow (for removing weeds between rows);
• staples (for loosening and harrowing);
• potato diggers (for harvesting).

A potato planter would be a useful addition.

It consists of:

• furrowmaker;
• containers for tubers;
• potato stacker;
• distributor for feeding tubers;
• hiller for backfilling rows.

The most popular models of walk-behind tractors for planting potatoes are:

Bison

The heavy weight of the device makes the operator's work easier. The wheels grip the soil better, and the unit moves almost independently. A modern gearbox provides several forward and reverse speeds.

MTZ

Belarusian model with engines of famous foreign brands. They are distinguished by maneuverability and a spacious gas tank.

Firework

Easy to use. Copes even with heavy wet soil. Works on Japanese, Chinese and American engines.

Neva

The manufacturer does not use Chinese engines. The case is reliable and protects internal mechanisms from dust and damage. A wide range of attachments can be used.

Preparing the walk-behind tractor

So that the unit can be used for planting potatoes, it is necessary to remove the cutters and put lug wheels in their place. Instead of a central stop, a hitch is installed.

A hiller is inserted into the hitch, and metal pins are stuck into it. The width of the hiller should be set to 60-65 cm. This will be the distance between the potato rows.
Instead of a hiller, you can use a plow and a potato planter.

Technology for planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor

Regardless of the planting method, a number of rules must be followed:

• The row spacing should be the same along the entire length and be 60-65 cm.
• The furrows are made as even as possible.
• It is necessary to maintain a distance between tubers of 25-30 cm.
• Potatoes are planted at a depth of 10-12 cm.

How to plant potatoes with a walk-behind tractor under a plow?

First of all, lug wheels and a plow are installed on the unit, which is inserted into the soil to the depth of the spade bayonet. When passing in one direction, the device leaves behind itself a furrow into which the tubers are placed.

On the way back, he creates a new row, while simultaneously covering the laid out planting material with soil.

Planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor under a hiller

Depending on the brand of walk-behind tractor, you should move the blades and increase the grip of the wings or remove the wings and the main stop. You can read the instructions for what to do with a specific model. By using hiller and lug wheels are formed in rows. Then the tubers are laid out by hand.

After sowing, the metal wheels are replaced with rubber ones so as not to damage the potatoes, and again walk along the rows, maintaining a distance of 60-65 cm. The device will cover the tubers and soil and compact it.

Planting potatoes using a potato planter

A planter is installed on the unit. Tubers are placed in it. It is important that they are the right size and fit freely through the distributor.

As the walk-behind tractor moves, a row is formed.The tubers immediately fall into it and are simultaneously covered with a plow. The frequency of tuber feeding can be adjusted manually. There are additional containers with which fertilizer is simultaneously placed into the soil.

This method speeds up the planting process potatoes, but is the most expensive.

Processing beds during crop growing

A week after planting, the soil must be loosened. The soil becomes covered with a crust, which creates a barrier for potato germination and blocks the access of oxygen to the soil. For loosening with a walk-behind tractor, special brackets are used.

Weeding is done weekly so that weeds do not interfere with the germination of the future crop. Weeds between the rows are removed using a mesh harrow. You will have to weed between the bushes by hand.

When shoots appear, there is a need for regular hilling. To do this, install a hiller with one, two or three rows on a walk-behind tractor. It is better to hill up in the morning or evening, when the heat subsides. It is advisable to do this after rain with slightly dry soil.

Moist, loose soil stimulates growth potatoes, and it’s easier to get rid of weeds. In addition, wet soil does not crumble.

If you install a special attachment on the walk-behind tractor, you can apply fertilizer at the same time as hilling.

Harvesting using a walk-behind tractor

In August and early September it is time to dig up potatoes. And here the unit will come to the rescue. For convenience, a mounted plower (potato digger) is installed on it.

The digger is installed vertically and the depth is adjusted. It should be slightly greater than the depth at which the tubers were planted.

To properly set up the walk-behind tractor, you will have to walk a few meters with it, and then inspect the dug up potatoes.If cut tubers are found, the depth of the plow is increased. Then, using a shovel, check whether there is any unexcavated material left in the row. potato.

Correctly setting up the walk-behind tractor will help you quickly harvest the crop and not damage it.

After one row has been dug, it is recommended to skip the adjacent one and move on to the third one in turn. This is done in order not to damage the tubers that have fallen between the rows. In addition, in this case the device will not fall on its side due to the difference in height and density of the soil.

Thus, the odd rows are dug first and the crop is harvested. Then they move on to the even ones.

If you don’t want or have the opportunity to spend money on a potato digger, you can get by with a single-row hiller. It will turn over the top layer of soil, and the tubers will appear on the surface. All that remains is to collect them manually.

Walk-behind tractors significantly save time and effort when planting potatoes and harvesting. In addition, they make it easier to care for the beds.

The units are easy to assemble and use, and the results obtained are worth all the costs. WITH walk-behind tractors gardening turns into pure pleasure.

Let's watch a video on how to use a walk-behind tractor for planting and harvesting potatoes: