October 22, 2011
The weather has been very wet for the last two weeks, preventing harvesting from taking place.
Finally the harvesting crew and equipment
can get into the fields and work.
The ground is very soft and also wet in places,
making it more difficult to travel without getting stuck, especially with a full load of potatoes in the trucks.
The crew on the potato harvester;
a tractor driver, a truck driver and three people
on the harvester in the cab, to grade (sort) the potatoes
before they go into the truck, to remove rocks,
potato vines, and any cull (bad) potatoes.
Beautiful new potatoes!
The soil is sticking to them somewhat
because it is quite moist.
Two windrowers.
The windrower on the right is digging four rows of potatoes and letting them drop into the V of the two rows to its left.
The windrower on the left is digging two rows and
letting them drop in the same V to its right.
letting them drop in the same V to its right.
The harvester will follow and dig these two rows
and at the same time, pick up the potatoes in the V,
thereby harvesting eight rows at a time.
and at the same time, pick up the potatoes in the V,
thereby harvesting eight rows at a time.
You can see the wide swath of the four row windrower and the narrower swath of the two row wind rower.
You can also see the wet area in the track
left by the four row machine.
left by the four row machine.
In wet spots like this the farmer will leave
these potatoes behind on the ground,
because they will cause problems of rot in the warehouse,
as they will not keep well due to having been
exposed to too much moisture.
The two windrowers have reached the end of the rows...
...and have begun another set of rows, coming back down the field.
They have reached the end of the rows
and are moving back up the field again...
and are moving back up the field again...
...both windrowers discharging potatoes
into the same V space between two rows.
The windrower has steel "shoes" that slide underneath the rows, and lift the potatoes with the soil.
The potatoes, vines and soil move onto the pickup chain and are carried backwards up into the machine.
onto the ground while potatoes and remaining soil
are discharged to the side through a chute...
The two row windrower -
you can see that everything! gets picked up -
weeds, grass, vines, soil, potatoes.
you can see that everything! gets picked up -
weeds, grass, vines, soil, potatoes.
A very large size bicycle chain to run
all the gears and shafts for the chains!
The devining chain carries away the vines and
drops them out at the back of the machine.
drops them out at the back of the machine.
The rear of the tractor that is
hooked up to the harvester.
The round black shaft is the P.T.O. or Power Take Off.
It rotates at 540 R.P.M. (revolutions per minute), when the tractor motor is revved up to full throttle;
so do NOT stand close to a rotating P.T.O. shaft!
It has a guard on it, but it should not be approached
unless it is shut off.
It rotates at 540 R.P.M. (revolutions per minute), when the tractor motor is revved up to full throttle;
so do NOT stand close to a rotating P.T.O. shaft!
It has a guard on it, but it should not be approached
unless it is shut off.
It is what powers all the moving parts on the harvester;
the gears, chains, etc.
The black hoses are the hydraulic hoses,
which run oil from the tractor transmission
to the hydraulic cylinders.
which run oil from the tractor transmission
to the hydraulic cylinders.
These cylinders lift and lower the chain elevator
that loads potatoes into the truck, and they also assist in steering the harvester into the rows to be harvested.
As well, there are lines for the monitor and for the lights
for night work.
that loads potatoes into the truck, and they also assist in steering the harvester into the rows to be harvested.
As well, there are lines for the monitor and for the lights
for night work.
The potatoes are picked up and fed onto a pickup chain,
which is moving upwards into the machine,
to carry the crop up into the back of the harvester.
to carry the crop up into the back of the harvester.
The two metal discs cut the soil and vines and weeds,
so that the crop moves smoothly into the harvester
without snagging or catching or dragging.
The harvester is picking up the
windrowed potatoes - eight rows at a time.
windrowed potatoes - eight rows at a time.
See these stars below
four photos down,
to come back to this part of the harvester.
******
four photos down,
to come back to this part of the harvester.
******
One of the hydraulic cylinders -
this one raises and lowers the elevator and conveyor chain
this one raises and lowers the elevator and conveyor chain
that carries the potatoes into the truck.
This one is covered with a mixture of oil and soil;
the oil is under very high pressure and sometimes
there is a slow leak of oil from the seal where
the silver shaft comes out of the cylinder as it works.
Any small amount of oil leak attracts soil, especially in this case where the soil is falling through the chain above.
The seal will be replaced when it is leaking too much.
This one is covered with a mixture of oil and soil;
the oil is under very high pressure and sometimes
there is a slow leak of oil from the seal where
the silver shaft comes out of the cylinder as it works.
Any small amount of oil leak attracts soil, especially in this case where the soil is falling through the chain above.
The seal will be replaced when it is leaking too much.
Another cylinder -
this one is used to help steer
the machine in the row.
No leaks here!
this one is used to help steer
the machine in the row.
No leaks here!
Each cylinder has two lines (black hoses)-
one to carry the oil to the cylinder and the other to
take the oil back to the tractor transmission
one to carry the oil to the cylinder and the other to
take the oil back to the tractor transmission
where it is stored until needed.
This is a monitor located in the tractor cab,
so that the operator can observe what is happening
at the back of the harvester, and shut off the P.T.O.
if there is an overload of potatoes.
The operator can regulate the ground speed of the tractor according to how the crop is moving through the harvester.
A closer view of the monitor screen shows
the back of the harvester, where the potatoes are moving
(on the left side) to another chain belt.
Sometimes the second chain belt
(on the far left, where the potatoes drop down)
will not move the potatoes up fast enough,
and they may pile up here.
Then the harvester has to stop and everyone works
to clear up the backlog of potatoes,
before harvesting can continue.
*******
Back to the front of the harvester!
The crop is being moved up on the pickup chain,
soil is falling through the chain;
the crop then moves onto the next devining chain,
which lets the potatoes drop through this wide-spaced chain, but carries the vines out to the back of the machine.
soil is falling through the chain;
the crop then moves onto the next devining chain,
which lets the potatoes drop through this wide-spaced chain, but carries the vines out to the back of the machine.
At the back air is blown from underneath
the devining chain to keep the vines from falling
through the chain into the potatoes.
The soil falling through the pickup chain.
Here the potatoes from under the devining chain
have been picked up by another chain.
They drop onto an elevator chain that moves them...
...up to the harvester cab.
This is where pileups can occur;
the monitor helps the operator to know
how the crop is moving through through the harvester,
and he can adjust the speed of the tractor as needed.
This is the camera for the monitor in the cab.
...on the green metal bar.
The potatoes move from the elevator chain
into the harvester cab...
into the harvester cab...
...and onto the grading chain
where two or three workers...
...stand or sit! on each side grading
to remove rocks, cull potatoes and any other debris.
to remove rocks, cull potatoes and any other debris.
From there, the potatoes are moved out into the truck.
If you were standing here grading,
below your feet you would see potatoes, soil and all,
coming up into the harvester
below your feet you would see potatoes, soil and all,
coming up into the harvester
on the pickup chain.
Lights are for working at night;
when the weather is good it is often necessary
to work long hours to get the crop safely harvested
before the frost hits.
The chute where the rocks and debris
are sent out from the grading chain.
Looking down to the P.T.O. shaft and the pickup chain
from inside the tractor cab.
Another hydraulic cylinder is located here on the right
to assist with steering the harvester in the row.
Another hydraulic cylinder is located here on the right
to assist with steering the harvester in the row.
A truck has just arrived to be loaded -
the side is lowered so that the elevator
from the harvester ...
...can reach down into the truck
to reduce bruising of the crop.
The truck driver uses his rear view mirror to watch the potatoes unloading into the truck box.
The tractor driver watches as well, and signals to the truck driver when to move ahead more or to drop back a little.
A cable is kept on the front of the tractor
in case it gets stuck in a soft spot in the field
and will need to be pulled out.
The tractor straddles across the two rows
with the six windrowed rows between.
The truck box is filling up.
This is a measuring stick marked off in inches.
It slides back and forth in the metal loop,
and shows how deep the shoes on the harvester
are in the ground.
The tractor driver can see it from the cab.
Digging too deep would allow too much soil to be picked up;
too shallow could result in
the harvester cutting into the potatoes,
or leaving some behind.
Getting fuller.
Here the shoes are lifted out of the ground
as the harvester has completed a row
and is being pulled into the next set of rows.
Another full load...
...heading to the warehouse to unload.
In front of the warehouse are large piles of rocks
that have been graded out of the potato crop
as it gets unloaded from the truck and
is piled into the storage area.
that have been graded out of the potato crop
as it gets unloaded from the truck and
is piled into the storage area.
...for unloading...
...while the second truck that has just been emptied
heads back to the field.
An electric motor (in the yellow cage) is attached
to drive the belt to unload the potatoes
into the chute of the bin piler.
As the potatoes move up into the bin piler,
the crew checks them over,
removing rocks, and culls.
The potatoes are moving into the warehouse,
to be piled in the background.
The truck is on the left, the pile of potatoes is...
...right here!
The very long arm of the bin piler extends
to the top of the pile, where the potatoes drop off and roll down the pile.
The operator of the bin piler can control the arm
with a remote, that allows him to swing it
from side to side, raise or lower it
and extend or retract the arm as needed.
The potatoes are now safely stored
for the winter months until
it is time to ship them to market.
it is time to ship them to market.
This variety of potatoes is a kind of Russet,
which makes a very good eating potato
as well as good for making french fries.
A few oddly shaped potatoes.
Do you see the rock among them?
Potato fruit.
Two green ones that were not frost-damaged.
They are quite small, less than one inch
(2.5 cm.) in diameter.
(2.5 cm.) in diameter.
They are the fruit of the potato flower.
They resemble tomatoes, (and are related to tomatoes)
but are much smaller, as are the seeds,
which are about one-sixteenth of an inch.
Potatoes and tomatoes belong to the Nightshade family.
Parts of the plants of this family can be poisonous,
including this potato fruit.
These did not survive the frost.
In the harvested part of the field the seagulls come...
to search for worms in the freshly disturbed ground.
There are also some potatoes that you can collect
for the winter, but you have to do it
within a day of them having been dug,
before they turn green from exposure to the light.
Once they turn green they are not good to eat.
The harvest was completed about the October 28, 2012.
The harvest was completed about the October 28, 2012.
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