Abstract
A commercially available one-row harvester was modified to meet a number of needs that are often encountered when conducting field trials with potatoes. The harvester can be utilized for both small plot collection (e.g., 8 m row lengths) as well as for bulk harvesting of larger plots (e.g., 65 m row lengths). The equipment alteration time required for conversion from one system to the other is minimal (less than 30 min) and the harvester has been altered to accommodate typical row widths and harvesting conditions in many N. American potato growing areas. It has been structurally modified to improve stability during operation to overcome a tendency to tip-over under certain circumstances. In addition, bulk harvesting operations with this machine involves a minimum of three persons as compared to a minimum of six generally required for a traditionally utilized digger-picker harvester.
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Literature Cited
Misener, G.C. and L.P. McMillan. 1982. A single-hill potato digger. Am Potato J 59:551–553.
Chase, R.W., N.R. Thompson, R.L. Ledebuhr, C.M. Hansen and R.B. Kitchen. 1978. Plot harvester for potatoes. Am Potato J 55:235–237.
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(Bud) Piatt, H.W., Campbell, A.J., Birt, I. et al. Modifications of a potato harvester for small plot field research. American Potato Journal 67, 799–803 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03044531
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03044531