Digging potatoes

cmyoung2 · Sep 13, 2017

Dug a few potatoes just before Irma's rain. BCS 850, potato/root crop plow. Spread the wheels out with a 2 1/2" and 6" extension on each side. Used 40lbs of barbell weight each side, tires are foam filled, 25 lbs each, and the 6" extensions are filled with 8 lbs of lead each. Did a great job, but probably needed all the weight, digging deep with a fairly heavy weed load.

jcraftenworth · Sep 13, 2017

my advice is to mow the potatoes and weeds ahead of tie, let it sit a few days, then plow em up. use a flail, if ya got it, then maybe you don't have to wait long or at all to plow.

Big Barn · Sep 13, 2017

I like those wheel extensions!

Mowing or flailing the weeds and tops is a good idea. Less trash to sort through.

Mow a week ahead of your harvest date to allow skins to "set". This will minimize bruising and be especially beneficial if you are planning to store them. If storing in a root cellar or otherwise do not wash the dirt off until you plan on selling or cooking them.

Terry

ferrari99 · Sep 14, 2017

Looks good.
Totally off topic but what do you use the 'quick hitch' on the front for? (if that's what it is).

cmyoung2 · Sep 14, 2017

I did mow the weeds before I plowed, love the flail mower. But there was still plenty of roots to slow things down.
The quick hitch on front is for a caster wheel to help when moving the tractor with no implement.I'll try to get a picture. I also use it to attach about 30 lbs of barbell weights to offset the double rotary plow.

ferrari99 · Sep 14, 2017

cmyoung2 said:
The quick hitch on front is for a caster wheel to help when moving the tractor with no implement.I'll try to get a picture. I also use it to attach about 30 lbs of barbell weights to offset the double rotary plow.

That's a great idea, I have the same problem especially with the diesel engine.

cmyoung2 · Sep 14, 2017

Here is my version of a front caster, copied the idea from some else here. I need to make some corrections,I have too much slop in the connection, the wheel doesn't track like I want, tends to catch on the motor guard. but it really does help transport and hooking up implements. Adjustment will be a winter project. Not real sure why BCS doesn't make it as an accessory, but I would probably try to build it anyway.