Technology for planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor

Using a walk-behind tractor when growing potatoes significantly increases labor productivity. Various operations for landing and crop processing become more technologically advanced and easier if you use a walk-behind tractor and additional attachments. As a result, one person will be able to cultivate large areas and get a solid harvest.

The features of working with walk-behind tractors, their technical characteristics and technological processes will be discussed further.

What is a walk-behind tractor

A walk-behind tractor or motor-cultivator is a two-wheeled (but on one axis) power unit equipped with a one- or two-cylinder air-cooled internal combustion engine, which provides the cultivator with traction during plowing, loosening, cutting furrows and hilling.

The cultivator is equipped with a lever steering wheel, with the help of which the operator walking behind it directs it in the desired direction. In addition, the power unit comes complete with a trailer on a rigid axle - when connected, you get a full-fledged light-duty vehicle.

Using a walk-behind tractor significantly increases labor productivity compared to manual digging or hilling. However, productivity is directly related to the power of the power unit - in this indicator, not a single walk-behind tractor can compare with a tractor.

Growing technology potatoes represents a sequence of different types of land cultivation.

Rules for landing with a walk-behind tractor

When the earth warms up to no less than +12...+15°C, it can begin to be cultivated. To do this, instead of wheels, disc cutters-rippers are installed on the walk-behind tractor. Next, the entire area is processed with such cutters. One of the cutters (for example, the left one) should follow the track left by the right one during the passage of the previous strip. Then the area will be properly loosened to depth, corresponding to one bayonet of a shovel.

Then the furrows are cut. To do this, you will need two-row hillers, which are installed on a special suspension behind the wheels. In this case, disc cutters are replaced with metal lugs. Hillers are designed to cut furrows 65 cm wide - that is, they provide exactly the furrow spacing required for growing potatoes.

After this, the tubers are placed in the prepared furrows.. It is advisable to place them in a checkerboard pattern (relative to adjacent furrows), and the distance between the potatoes should be 40-45 cm.

When the seed is spread out, it is covered with soil. To do this, set the hooks so that they go along the tops of the beds. In addition, the hillers are adjustable so that their working width is maximum. When passing through the beds, the walk-behind tractor will cover the potatoes with soil. If everything is done correctly, the planted field will have a smooth surface.

Plowing equipment

The most common motor cultivators are the following brands:

• Motoblocks "Neva". Gasoline engine power – 6.5 liters. With. (4.4 kW), engine displacement – ​​196 cm3, weight – 85 kg, processing depth – up to 200 mm.
• Motoblocks "Salute". Gasoline engine power – 7 liters. With.(5 kW), engine displacement – ​​208 cm3, weight – 70 kg, processing depth – up to 320 mm.
• Motor cultivators of the Minsk Tractor Plant - in particular, the Belarus-09N model. Gasoline engine power – 9 liters. With. (6.6 kW), nominal traction force - 100 kgf, weight - 176 kg, processing depth - up to 300 mm.

Planting methods

Depending on the initial condition of the soil, there are several subtleties of planting potatoes using walk-behind tractors.

Working with the hiller

Hiller is an agricultural equipment for working with the ground, whose purpose is to take soil from the bottom of the furrow and move it to the sides and up. Hillers are symmetrical - unlike a plow, they do not have a pronounced blade.

With the help of hillers, the initial cutting of furrows is carried out, filling the planting potatoes with soil, as well as the hilling itself, when the beds take on their final form, and space for new tubers is added around the root system of the plant.

Hillers are available in single-row and double-row. They are installed on a special console behind the wheels of the walk-behind tractor. The overall productivity depends on the number of rows processed. More rows means faster processing. However, this increases the complexity of the operator's work. For this reason, it is advisable to install double-row hillers if the soil in the field is sufficiently developed.

Hillers have a fixed or adjustable working width. Experienced farmers advise purchasing equipment with an adjustable grip to adjust the width of the furrow. In addition, the hiller can be used to form furrows and cover the tubers with soil.

Working with disc cutters

They are installed instead of wheels, and the speed of their rotation is not directly proportional to the speed of movement of the walk-behind tractor itself.

The cutters rotate through the soil, loosen it and it is saturated with oxygen. However, cutters can only be used if the ground is loose. Otherwise, the cutters simply “will not penetrate” deep into the soil layer.

Planting under the plow

The plow is used in cases where it is necessary to cultivate either virgin soil or dense soil. Cultivation with a plow is the most difficult stage of cultivating a plot for the operator, since it requires a lot of effort. In this case, the walk-behind tractor will move at the lowest speed.

Important. After initial plowing, it is not necessary to till the soil with disc cutters.

If plowing is done carefully, then additional furrow cutting may not be necessary. Then, to cover the tubers with soil, change the plow to a single-row hiller.

Planting with a mounted potato planter

For this purpose, special hillers are used, consisting of the following elements:

1. Conveyor - This is a conveyor whose task is to supply seed to the place of placement.
2. Furrow former (or furrower).
3. Distributor - is responsible for ensuring that the tubers fall into the furrows at strictly defined points in time. This ensures the uniformity of their sowing.
4. Hiller – with its help, the tubers are covered with soil.

To begin with, lugs are installed on the walk-behind tractor, as well as a special bunker where they are poured tubers for planting. Further:

1. The furrows are formed by lugs.
2. The seed material from the hopper, through a conveyor and distributor, enters the furrow.
3. Then the lugs are replaced with rubber wheels (so as not to damage the seed), and instead of a hopper with a distributor, hillers are installed on the walk-behind tractor. The cultivator moves along the beds, and the hillers fill the spread potatoes with soil.

Using a mounted potato planter speeds up planting and saves time and effort.

Process technology

The garden is laid out so that the beds are as long as possible - then there will be no need to frequently turn around the walk-behind tractor. The technological map for planting potatoes is as follows.

First, the field is prepared for cutting furrows.

There are two options:

• or it is initially plowed using a plow, and then there is no need to cut furrows;
• or the soil is loosened with disc cutters, then furrows are formed.

Then the seed tubers are laid in a checkerboard pattern (in increments of 40 cm).

Next, the tubers are covered with soil from the formed beds using hillers.

A standard plow or hiller is capable of “deepening” by 20 cm. This means that the formed beds will have a depth of 30 to 40 cm. When the tubers are covered with soil, the planting depth will automatically be 20-25 cm.

Crop care

After the potatoes will sprout - approximately on the 35th day, it is hilled up. To do this, use standard hillers (preferably with an adjustable working width). The hiller lifts an additional 10 cm of soil from the bottom of the bed and dumps it onto its walls, which provides additional volume for the formation of new tubers.

Important. At the same time, the hilling process will suppress the development of weeds - young potato shoots will gain an advantage over them, begin to develop faster and shade them, preventing them from growing.

However, if the weeds in the field develop more actively than the vegetable, then the potatoes are weeded before hilling. To do this, use a mounted mesh harrow.

Also, a motor cultivator significantly simplifies the process of spraying potatoes (for example, with chemical compounds against the appearance and development of late blight). To do this, install a tank and a sprayer on the walk-behind tractor. The process can be completed literally in one pass without significant physical effort.

Harvesting with a walk-behind tractor

To harvest potatoes, a plow is installed on the walk-behind tractor. Its end will go into the ground to a sufficient depth to take the soil along with new tubers to the dump and turn them over, leaving them on the surface. Then all that remains is to harvest the crop.

Tips and recommendations from experienced gardeners

A motor cultivator is a means of small-scale mechanization that serves to save the strength, energy and health of the gardener. Therefore, you should not hang two hillers: it will become much more difficult to control the walk-behind tractor. In the end, it may turn out that it is easier to plant potatoes in the usual way.

After plowing virgin soil, it is recommended to replace the lugs with cutters and disc the soil. This will loosen it and make it easier to further cover the potatoes with soil and hill them up.

Conclusion

A walk-behind tractor is a technologically advanced, compact and inexpensive to operate small-scale mechanization tool, which can also be used as a traction unit. Moreover, walk-behind tractors are designed specifically for cultivating small and medium-sized plots of land. And their use greatly simplifies growing potatoes.