A device for sorting potatoes and how to make it yourself
To store potatoes, you need to sort them. This is a very labor-intensive and painstaking process that requires considerable physical effort and time, especially if the harvest is rich. Therefore, the question of devices that will make work easier and make sorting faster and more convenient becomes relevant. We'll tell you how to make potato sorting with your own hands.
Why are potatoes sorted, sorting parameters
Before harvesting potatoes for the winter, they must be sorted by size, variety, appearance and other indicators important to producers or households.
Enterprises sort tubers according to the following scheme: 4-6 cm; 6-8 cm; over 8 cm. Potatoes that do not fall into even the smallest classification are collected separately.
Small potatoes from the first two groups are sent to store shelves, and larger ones are sent to vegetable markets. The largest, most selected tubers are kept by the harvesters for seeds and also supplied to public catering outlets.
Important! Sick and damaged tubers are discarded, which will quickly begin to rot and ruin the entire harvest. Also, when sorting, any plants, lumps of earth, stones and other debris are removed.
The mechanism and its effectiveness
There are two ways to sort potatoes:
- manual – produced by a person using his physical strength, i.e.Each tuber is manually selected into different categories;
- mechanized – additional devices are used to make work easier and faster.
Mechanized sorting is suitable for large harvests and consists of separating small tubers from large ones using a large sieve.
Mechanized sorting is divided into manual and automatic. The first is suitable for home harvesting for the winter, since it is slower, but cheaper than the automated one. The second type of sorting is used with special equipment and the crop is processed in tons.
Lattice table
One of the simplest, but at the same time quite effective means for saving time on sorting potatoes is a lattice table.
In essence, it is an ordinary wooden box with a lattice bottom. These are found on grocery and vegetable counters and in food wholesale stores. You can buy them or ask them for free from store employees.
The box will have to be modified a little by narrowing the bottom slats on one side so that larger potatoes can slip through them. This can be done using a regular or circular saw or hacksaw.
Attention! If you don’t have the opportunity to find a ready-made box, you can make it yourself from scraps of boards and bars, plywood.
Materials with a thickness of 30-35 mm are suitable. The length of the tray is not less than 1500 mm, the width is 750 mm, the height of the sides is not less than 250 mm, otherwise the potatoes will spill out even before sorting.
The bottom of the trays is also made with your own hands from narrow slats, which are positioned so that in one part the gap between them is smaller than in the other (for example, on one side at a distance of 30-40 mm from each other, on the other - 60-70 mm ).
To turn a box into a sorting table, it is installed at an angle on small supports so that the tubers roll down an inclined plane (Fig. 1).
Under the edge that is higher, place a container (box, bucket or box) for smaller potatoes, since they will slip through faster, and larger tubers will roll lower along the board. They put another box there.
It is much easier for two people to do this kind of work than alone. Then labor productivity will be approximately 800 kg of potatoes per hour. Since the design is easy to assemble and lightweight, it can be used by several families in turn.
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Potato grading in cylinder shape
This type of device is more difficult to make, but still possible. It will speed up the work and the amount of sorted harvest significantly.
For this you will need:
- 2 rod cylinders fastened together;
- bunker;
- grids for rolling potatoes;
- lever arm;
- frame.
To make potato sorting, you need to place grids with holes of different diameters inside the cylinders.
Potatoes are separated into 3 fractions: small, medium and large. Small and medium tubers are sorted sequentially, and large ones are rolled out. Any debris that accidentally gets into the potatoes is sifted out using additionally installed small grids.
Mobile potato sorting L-701
One of the most popular mechanized machines is the L-701 mobile potato sorter. It is quite large in size and is designed to work on the field together with a tractor or autonomously.
The design of this machine allows you to sort tubers into small, medium and large. It consists of rubberized gratings with rectangular holes. The electric drive starts operation. Such equipment can handle a load of 5 tons of potatoes per hour.
Another fundamental difference from the cylindrical sorter is the size - at 7 m in length, the unit weighs almost 800 kg.
Sorter M-616
The most advanced potato sorting machine is M-616. It is much more complex in design - it contains a feeding conveyor belt, a heated selection table, a conveyor, a bag storage unit, and a support frame on wheels (which makes the unit transportable without any extra effort). This device helps to separate potatoes not only by size, but also to select seed ones.
This is a large unit that sorts potatoes into 4 parts. Its design allows the machine to be moved by one person. Such equipment can handle a load of 5 tons of potatoes per hour.
How to make a sorting device with your own hands - step-by-step instructions and drawings
Another device, consisting of only 2 edged boards, can also be made independently.
To do this, the boards should be placed at an angle (Fig. 3) to create a gap that increases towards the bottom of the structure.
Smaller potatoes will fall out higher, and larger ones will fall out below.
Place containers for collecting sorted potatoes one after another under the boards so that the tubers of the required size immediately fall into a box or box.
Tips and tricks
If you do not have multi-ton reserves of your own potato harvest, you can safely rely on homemade sorting devices.
For homemade products, there is no point in buying or hiring a special automated sorting machine. A manual mechanism made independently will cope with the task.
A lattice table is perfect for small harvests. For more extensive work, you can make a cylindrical sorter that will serve you for many years.
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Conclusion
It’s not difficult to make a potato sorter with your own hands. This is an easy to use device that is easy to transport. Your friends and neighbors can also use it. If you need to prepare a large amount of potatoes, automated machines are used that process up to 5 tons of potatoes per hour.