Potato harvesting is labor-intensive work. Now more than ever, the availability of labor is a major constraint, that’s why potato harvesters can save growers a lot of trouble.

The process of potato harvesting mainly includes excavation, separation of potato and soil, picking, and other tasks.

Potatoes are often grown in drills or beds to ensure that the harvester digs an even width of dirt and potatoes as it travels over the field. To move between the rows rather than on top of them, harvester and tractor wheels are designed at specific widths.

The blade of a potato harvester that makes contact with the potatoes in the soil is known as a share. As the harvester moves through the crop, potatoes and soil are carried over the top of the share and into a web, a moving belt made of regularly spaced steel bars.

As the potatoes and soil move up the web, tiny adjustable wheels called agitators gently or aggressively (depending on the user settings) strike underneath the web belt. The potatoes are the only things left behind when the loose dirt is shaken because the motion causes it to fall through the bars and onto the ground.

As the potatoes rise to the top of the first separating web, there are often several weighed metal rods pointing downward. These bars, known as “haulm fingers”, are used to force potato tops (also known as “haulm”) into a rubber-coated roller that rotates in the opposite direction of the main web roller. The result is that the haulm is forced down onto lower land and away from the harvester.

After the first big web, there is generally a smaller second web or separator unit to further separate more challenging dirt and stones from the potatoes.

After the second web or separator unit, the potatoes will either be taken off the harvester or they will first pass over a human picking table. Using this picking table, people can remove any last bits of soil, grass, stones, or damaged potatoes from the crop. It is made up of a web of slowly spinning, closely spaced bars.

Two Alternatives for Unloading the Crop

Web configurations, separator types, picking tables, and unmanned potato harvesters come in a wide variety. For dumping the produce, they often only have two options: with or without a bunker. Bunkers enable potato harvesters to continue harvesting without the need for an additional tractor and trailer to approach and collect the potatoes.

You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary e-copy of Issue 4 of Potato Business Digital 2022 magazine, which you can access by clicking here.