With the arrival of spring, summer residents have more work to do. A special place is occupied by digging beds. Although shovels are in demand as before, today another device that significantly facilitates work comes into first place. This is a walk-behind tractor. Many have heard about how to plant potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, but have never done it with their own hands.
A walk-behind tractor significantly simplifies the work of a vegetable grower
Tillage
To properly cultivate the soil, the walk-behind tractor kit for planting potatoes includes a hiller and a plow. Thanks to the multifunctional device, the earth is saturated with oxygen, the vegetable grows much faster, and all weeds are removed.
Among the disadvantages, we can name only one - only a man can control it. Before the start of spring plowing, set up and adjust the unit, then it will be much easier to hold it and guide it so that the furrows are even.
The depth of the rut for planting should be within 20 cm. For this work there is a plow, with the help of which the depth is equal and the rows are even.
Cultivation occurs using cutters, which leave depressions in the ground. For high-quality processing of the area, the manipulations must be performed correctly, i.e., when moving in the opposite direction, one of the cutters must fall into the mark left by the other cutter. This way the field will lend itself to more thorough digging.
Cultivation with milling cutters
Sometimes summer residents perform circular cultivation of the land. The MTZ walk-behind tractor is suitable for this. They start from the edge and move towards the central part in a spiral. But there is one significant drawback: after plowing, you will have to additionally level the soil with a rake. When moving along, the ground is processed with a rake only in places where the unit turns.
Preparation of equipment
After preparing the ground, we get to work on planting equipment. To do this, we change the cutters to lugs. The central stop is removed and a hitch is installed in its place. The work on preparing the equipment is done with your own hands. Metal pins are installed in the holes. We equip the walk-behind tractor with a two-row hiller, the width between the components of which is set at 65 cm. This parameter means what the distance between the rows of beds will be.
To mark out the vegetable garden, he uses a self-made marker. It's very easy to make. Take a wooden handle, at one end of which a small transverse stick is installed. We make some kind of rake, for this we fill three pegs, the distance between them should also be 65 cm. We begin to draw stripes on the field. After passing one row, unfold the level you made yourself and move it in the opposite direction, placing the outermost peg along the previous outermost line. After marking, we take a walk-behind tractor and make furrows.
Methods for planting potatoes
The formation of a furrow for planting is carried out in two ways:
- through a hiller;
- using a potato planter.
First landing method vegetable crop carried out using a hiller. The equipment is equipped with lug wheels. Now you can cut the furrows into which the vegetable is placed. This is done using a plow. Afterwards, the wheels are replaced with rubber ones, the width between which corresponds to the size of the track, and the crop planted in the ground is filled up and lightly compacted.
You can fill the potatoes with a walk-behind tractor so that one of its rubber wheels goes over the potatoes.
The second method involves working with a potato planter. This is a kind of canopy attached to a walk-behind tractor. Its volume is approximately 40 liters. The root vegetable is placed in it. The equipment is used on large planting areas.
The first step is to prepare the ground:
- to plow;
- harrow;
- If possible, moisten the soil.
After preparing the soil, ridges are formed. The canopy is equipped with two devices:
- a furrow from where potatoes enter the soil;
- disk hiller for backfilling the crop.
The process of planting a milk block with a potato planter
The equipment is equipped with lug wheels and a potato planter. To make the furrows deeper, the distance between the discs is reduced. The vegetable is poured into the compartment, and while the walk-behind tractor is moving, it falls into the prepared ruts. The frequency of planting can be controlled independently. After planting the crop, the ruts are buried and compacted.
You can make a potato shed yourself. Potatoes can be planted using a Neva walk-behind tractor without any additional equipment. This unpretentious and reliable look equipment for summer residents is simply irreplaceable. Any work can be done with it without any problems. summer cottage. The same principle applies to the Zubr and MTZ walk-behind tractors. This is due to the fact that the design schemes are identical, therefore there are practically no differences between them. Thus, planting potatoes with a Zubr walk-behind tractor occurs according to both the first and second options.
There is another way to plant potatoes using a plow. It is used to turn over the soil before winter. Potatoes are planted using a Zubr, Neva or MTZ walk-behind tractor. The plow and lugs are attached to the selected type of walk-behind tractor. When cultivating the land with a plow, land marking is not required. Among the features of the method, it should be noted that simultaneously with the formation of the track, the crop is planted. Having reached the line to the end, the equipment with the plow turns around and, forming a new track, fills the first line with planted potatoes.
MTZ walk-behind tractors are popular
Motoblocks MTZ
Today, MTZ walk-behind tractors are especially popular. Components for MTZ are manufactured to be durable and reliable so that the equipment can be in service for a long time, therefore high-quality materials are used during assembly. In addition, the unit is economical in terms of fuel consumption and is a very powerful type in its class.
The MTZ walk-behind tractor has the following positive characteristics, How:
- minimum vibration level;
- low noise level;
- easy start;
- simple controls;
- environmental friendliness.
MTZ is easy to use and easy to manage. His maintenance can be done without any problems with your own hands.
Availability modern technology on personal plots facilitates the hard work of the gardener, especially if there is a large plot of land under cultivation. In addition, it is not necessary to purchase a walk-behind tractor last word techniques with a bunch of bells and whistles, many of which you can do yourself. Therefore, multifunctional walk-behind tractors are indispensable in the household, thanks to which the summer season brings only joy.
Today, few people do without special equipment in large gardens, because planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor is much more effective (you can watch the video at the end of the article).
By planting and cultivating large areas by hand, you can not only waste your energy without getting the desired result, but also seriously undermine your health under such loads.
Such an irreplaceable, multifunctional and easy-to-use equipment as a walk-behind tractor will be an excellent assistant in many of the gardener’s chores.
What is it used for?
The walk-behind tractor is a compact universal machine designed for agricultural work. Quite often it is compared to a “miniature” tractor.
The use of this multifunctional equipment significantly reduces time and labor costs in performing a wide variety of gardening work, from weeding the ground to clearing snow on the site.
Each walk-behind tractor, regardless of the model, consists of five fundamental units:
- Power unit. Most products are equipped with diesel or gasoline engines with a power of up to 8-10 hp, as well as automatic speed controllers, which greatly simplify human work.
- Transmission. Manufacturers of agricultural machinery give preference to the hydrostatic type of transmission unit. It allows for smooth speed control and traction control.
- Running unit. Design features and completeness depend on the walk-behind tractor model.
- Aggregation system, which is responsible for the compatibility of the unit with additional attachments to ensure the multifunctionality of the device.
- Control system. It is a set of steering rods for a simplified way of working with the machine.
Walk-behind tractors are supplied to specialized stores with limited equipment attachments. But additionally, you can purchase various accessories that will increase its versatility as an agricultural machine.
Please note: When assembling a mini-tractor yourself, you should remember that any type of attachment increases the workload on the engine.
As attachments you can buy: an adapter trailer or a cargo trolley, a cultivator, a plow, a harrow, a hiller, a blade shovel, a rotary snow blower, a potato digger and/or potato planter, a mower, a rotary brush and even.
Species
When purchasing a walk-behind tractor, you should first decide on its size and power.
The latter criteria must be taken into account in proportion to the size of the cultivated area. It is not advisable to use a powerful unit for small garden, also low-efficiency equipment for large potato fields.
Each walk-behind tractor belongs to one of the following groups.
- Ultralight. Units of this group have a power of no more than three horsepower and a weight not exceeding 20 kg. Due to their compactness and small dimensions, such walk-behind tractors are easy to operate, as well as easy to store and transport. It is rational to use for processing beds, flower beds and plowing hard to reach places, because they capture pieces of earth no more than 30 cm wide, and the depth of penetration into the soil is about 8-9 cm.
- The light group consists of models with power up to 4.5 hp. and weighing up to 40 kg. Equipped with four-stroke engines with a fairly high efficiency index. Thanks to the design, the width of the soil coverage varies from half a meter to 90 cm, and the depth is in the range of 15-18 cm.
- Walk-behind tractor middle group has a power of seven horsepower and a weight of up to 100 kg. A special feature of the design is a transmission with one rear and two forward speeds.
Important to know: walk-behind tractors of the medium and/or heavy group can be additionally equipped with various attachments, and therefore are considered a universal type.
- Heavy group. It includes mini-machines with power up to 16 hp. and a weight exceeding the hundredweight mark. The equipment of this group is used mainly on farms or in the work of public utilities.
Advantages
The demand for walk-behind tractors among farmers and gardeners is due to its many advantages, among which the most “popular” is the combination of light weight with sufficient efficiency.
Any work in the garden, which can be done manually in a day, can be completed on average in three hours using a walk-behind tractor without loss of efficiency and quality.
The presence of a universal unit allows you to avoid the cost of purchasing more powerful and expensive equipment. This is especially inappropriate if we are talking about a small area.
In addition, this technique can be successfully used not only for loosening the soil, but also for planting vegetables, harvesting, transporting heavy loads, removing snow and other operations if appropriate attachments are available.
Overview of planting technologies
There are several methods for planting potato tubers, pre- and post-cultivation of the soil, as well as harvesting using a walk-behind tractor, depending on its model and attachments.
The most common planting technologies are the following types works
With a hiller
This method of planting potatoes is done using a special device - a hiller, which is mounted on a walk-behind tractor along with lug wheels. The next step is cutting the furrows.
Potato tubers are manually placed into the resulting furrows. This ends the manual process. Then the walk-behind tractor starts working again.
Advice: The smoother the furrow is formed, the easier it will be to subsequently care for the soil!
But before that, the lug wheels on it should be replaced with ordinary rubber ones, observing the parameters for the width of the furrow. This will guarantee that during subsequent processing the tubers will not be damaged, and only the necessary backfilling and compaction of the soil will occur.
Using a plow
Using a walk-behind tractor involves another way of planting potatoes - under the plow. Before starting work, lug wheels are attached to the walk-behind tractor and, accordingly, a plow is mounted.
When forming furrows, there is no need for preliminary marking of the area. After the first furrow is formed, root crops should be immediately poured into the recesses.
Then the walk-behind tractor unfolds, and its right wheel is installed directly into the bed.
23797 03/08/2019 5 min.From land owners There are a lot of worries in spring. It is necessary to plow the soil that has rested during the winter, apply fertilizers, plant crops, hill up, weed, harvest and plow the soil before the first frost.
The appearance of the walk-behind tractor solved many problems. Labor-intensive gardening work can now be done on it. This saves time and makes landing more efficient.
Pre-planting treatment of tubers
Pre-planting preparation of root crops requires time and effort. On a standard plot of 6-7 acres, it will take all day to plant it with a shovel, but if you connect the equipment to the work, you can do it in about three hours. For small areas, they are popular.
To begin with, seed material is prepared. Preference is given to zoned varieties that give good harvests in certain regions. Sorting is done in order to select good raw materials. Potatoes are selected to be the same size.
Small tubers produce a small harvest. Large ones must be cut into pieces, and this provokes various diseases and opens direct access to pests. Germination takes about a month. To do this, the seed material is placed in a warm (+12-15 degrees), bright room.
If dark spots appear on fresh sprouts, this indicates a disease. The affected tubers are thrown away. Before planting, they are soaked in stimulating and pickling substances. It is not recommended to place tubers in the solution for a long time.
It is better to lay them on a flat surface, spray them with preparations and let them dry. plant root vegetables are possible when the earth will warm up to +7, +8 degrees (in the landing hole).
Soil preparation
Pre-sowing work begins with the laying of mineral or organic fertilizers in the fall.
Stages of preparation for sowing in spring:
- Immediately before planting it is necessary plow the soil to the depth of a spade bayonet(12-15cm). To do this you will need a nozzle - milling cutter
- When planting potatoes under a walk-behind tractor Neva, The wings of the unit are removed before work. The equipment installed on the walk-behind tractor must be adjusted correctly. This will ensure smooth running of the machine and require a minimum of effort. A well-plowed field does not require harrowing.
You can watch the online video for more details about planting potatoes using the Neva walk-behind tractor:
- Hide, for saturation with oxygen and moisture. In a well-loosened soil layer, crops sprout more easily. At this stage, the walk-behind tractor will greatly facilitate the process of preparing the soil before planting the seed.
- Complete set of walk-behind tractor.
For plowing you will need wheels with lug elements, a set of rubber wheels, wheel extensions, a milling cutter, a universal hitch, hillers or a plow. If you are going to purchase additional attachments, you should first buy a hitch. The remaining elements are selected to match it.
Technology
Tips for correct landing walk-behind tractors:
- The row spacing when planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor should be from 55 to 65 centimeters.
- Furrows must be done even, this will simplify caring for the root crop.
- Before disembarking you can fertilize the soil.
- Distance between tubers 25-30 cm.
Depth planting potatoes under a walk-behind tractor 10-12 cm.
When planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, make the distance between the rows the same. Watch the track width, it should be uniform. When cutting furrows, try to make them even. If necessary, pull the ropes to navigate along them.
Let's look at the main landing methods: using hiller, hanging element – , landing under plow, landing at crest.
To plant with help, wheels with lug elements are placed on the motor cultivator. Will do well. The furrows are being cut. Potatoes will have to be planted manually. After disembarking, replace the lugs with standard rubber wheels.
Rearranging the wheels is necessary in order not to injure the seed. The track width remains the same - 55-65 centimeters, and walk along the furrows again. The walk-behind tractor will fill the row with soil and compact the seed.
Planting with a hiller is a less expensive option. The unit should only include metal and rubber wheels and the hiller itself. The inconvenience lies in manual planting of potatoes. For large sown areas, a mounted planter for a walk-behind tractor is used.
This method is considered the least labor-intensive. The unit includes:
- Conveyor- a kind of conveyor that supplies seed material.
- Furrowmaker, for making a furrow.
- Distributor, for serving potatoes at certain intervals.
- Disc hiller, paving and filling furrows.
Working with a potato planter
Thanks to the fit for a walk-behind tractor, you can save three times more time, than when planting with a hiller. The process is completely mechanized. Potatoes are planted and hilled at the same time. The potato planter has its disadvantages.
Firstly, seed material should be selected more carefully. The tubers should be the same in size. Young shoots are not very long. Otherwise, the seed will be injured during planting. Secondly, this planting method is more expensive.
Together with a walk-behind planter, you can use a special device for simultaneous application fertilizers in the hole, together with seed material.
Planting with a plow
You need to install lug wheels on the walk-behind tractor. The soil is prepared by loosening using a milling cutter. The plow for planting is inserted into the ground to the depth of the spade bayonet.
It is more efficient to board with two people. The first one controls the walk-behind tractor, and the second one places the potatoes in the furrow. The work is done promptly. During the first passage of the row, it is laid seed material. And during the return journey, the sown furrow is covered with soil from the newly plowed one.
Landing on ridges
Planting potatoes in ridges with a walk-behind tractor is practiced in areas where groundwater located very close to the surface. To do this, you should use a walk-behind tractor to form ridges 15–20 cm high. The tubers are planted in the ridge. This option is only suitable for well-moistened soils.
Potato processing
Weeding
A week after planting, it is worth loosening the soil. During this time, a dense crust formed on the ground, preventing the germination of plant stems and the access of oxygen. Weeding is carried out weekly. This helps fight weeds that negatively affect root crops.
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For weeding work, a rotary or mesh harrow, paws and a weeder are used.
Hilling
Shoots appear in 3-4 weeks. Now after planting you need to hill up the potatoes. A walk-behind tractor will help with this. Suitable for hilling single, double or triple row. If desired, you can apply fertilizer by installing an additional nozzle.
Harvest
The walk-behind tractor is used not only for planting, but also for cleaning potatoes. By autumn, the potato tops dry out and everything is ready for harvesting. You need to dig potatoes in August - September, in dry weather. For digging with a walk-behind tractor, a mounted attachment is installed plower or potato digger.
The walk-behind tractor has now become necessary tool on cultivation land plot. The unit is well worth the investment. You can see how walk-behind tractors can be used, in addition to planting potatoes, on the “Advice from an Old Plowman” website.
The choice of attachments depends on the owner’s requests. Using the example of planting, hilling, weeding and harvesting potatoes, you can see how makes life easier use of a walk-behind tractor for gardeners.
One of the most labor-intensive jobs when growing potatoes is planting. Lighten this one hard work A walk-behind tractor will help. Using attachments, you can quickly and easily plant potatoes. Most universal equipment for working with arable land this is a hiller.
Rules for choosing a hiller
The hiller is a mounted unit for a walk-behind tractor. Its main purpose is to change the terrain of the soil. In the garden it is used for cutting furrows and forming ridges when hilling rows of potatoes and other agricultural crops.
The following types of hillers are used:
Tillage
Before planting potatoes, the soil is cultivated with cutters mounted on a walk-behind tractor. For better crushing of soil, the walk-behind tractor is driven across the area increased speed. Before cultivation, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied to the area and evenly distributed over it.
If the set of attachments for the walk-behind tractor does not include milling cutters as pre-sowing treatment arable lands are harrowed using a needle-type harrow as a working tool.
When cultivating or harrowing, soil lumps are crushed, the soil becomes looser, and oxygen access to plant roots is facilitated.
Important: The looser the soil, the easier it is to cut furrows on it with a hiller or plow.
Preparing the walk-behind tractor
To plant potatoes on middle-class walk-behind tractors, metal wheels are put on them for better traction with the ground. This procedure is not necessary for heavy-duty walk-behind tractors and mini tractors. A hiller is hung from the back of the walk-behind tractor through a universal hitch.
Walk-behind tractor with plow - is it worth replacing the hiller?
To plant potatoes, instead of a hiller, you can install a plow on a walk-behind tractor. In this case, planting begins immediately without prior marking of the garden. It is produced by two workers, the first of whom cuts the furrow with a walk-behind tractor plow, and the second of whom lays out the potatoes along the furrow. Next, the MB unfolds and the next furrow is drawn, filling the first one with the blade. The advantages of this method are that by reducing the number of passes of equipment across the field and the absence of such operations as marking, the speed of planting potatoes will be higher.
The disadvantage of this method is that when using it, one of the wheels of the walk-behind tractor moves along the spread out planting material with the risk of damaging the delicate shoots.
Planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor and hiller
Before planting potatoes, they are marked with a walk-behind tractor using a hiller, outlining the locations of future furrows every 65 centimeters. Next, carefully driving the walk-behind tractor with the hiller, with the wings spread to medium width, cut furrows into which they lay out planting material and apply mineral fertilizers.
To carry out the second stage of planting work on the MB, change the wheels to rubberized ones and open the wings of the hiller to their maximum width. The walk-behind tractor is placed between the rows and driven along the furrow, filling up the planting material.
Double row hiller
By using a two-row hiller for planting potatoes, you can halve the number of passes of the walk-behind tractor through plowing. The disadvantage of this method is the need to use a more powerful drive for this attachment.
Note: Before purchasing a two-row hiller, you need to make sure that the guide bar of the unit allows you to set a distance of 65-70 cm between the posts.
Conclusion
A mounted hiller for a walk-behind tractor is a multifunctional unit that from spring to autumn helps the gardener grow a rich harvest.
If you don’t want to spend extra time and effort on dacha work, then a walk-behind tractor will suit you. This type of gardening equipment is designed for quick and high-quality processing of large plots of land. The Neva and Salyut mechanized devices are in demand among domestic manufacturers. Operating such a unit is not at all difficult, the main thing is to adhere to some rules. Below we will tell you how to plant potatoes with a walk-behind tractor and consider the main nuances associated with tillage.
The first thing to note is that all hillers are designed to alleviate the plight of gardeners with large plots. The rest, more narrowly focused advantages, depend on the specific type of hiller, and there are 4 of them. The simplest is a hiller with an unregulated furrow width. This device has virtually no advantages, so most agronomists prefer other options. They are made from standard parameters with a furrow capture radius of 20-30 centimeters.
Hillers with adjustable working width are especially popular among gardeners. Such hillers can be adjusted to suit you, taking into account the size of the plot, the type of potato and other details. Adjustable hillers are characterized by high productivity, although there is a high energy consumption. The main advantage of a Dutch-type hiller is that when cultivating rows and row-spacings, the soil does not roll back into the hole. This significantly improves the quality of fit.
Planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor is carried out only after pre-treatment land. First you will need to plow the area and then harrow it to saturate the soil with oxygen and fluff it up. Plowing the land is carried out using a special cutter or plow.
You can also harrow (chop breasts) with a walk-behind tractor or with a hand rake, if the size of the area allows this. Some walk-behind tractors perfectly loosen the soil while plowing to a depth of 20 centimeters, so sometimes harrowing is not necessary. The Neva is considered one of the most popular walk-behind tractors. He can cultivate the field at 2 speed. It is better to start processing from the edge of the area. Then plow 2 meters of soil, which is placed perpendicular to the furrows. To ensure that the entire garden is plowed to the same depth, try to use the plow to capture part of the already cultivated ridge.
Next you need to outline the rows. One of the most important conditions for high-quality potato growth is free row spacing. The row spacing should be on average 60-70 centimeters. The numbers depend on the potato variety. When the holes are prepared, the actual planting of potatoes begins using a walk-behind tractor.
Video “Planting potatoes using the Neva walk-behind tractor”
Landing technique
There are two main planting methods - potato planter and hiller. Below we will tell you what it is fundamental difference between these two options and which method is better. Remember, no matter what kind of unit you eventually start using, the distance between potato seeds in a row should be at least 20-30 centimeters, and the depth should be 10-15 centimeters.
If you are using a regular hiller, then it must be attached to the walk-behind tractor. In order for the potatoes to fit comfortably in the furrows, you will need to move the moldboards and thus increase the grip of the wings. When using the Neva walk-behind tractor, do not forget to remove the wings and main support from it. The salute walk-behind tractor does not require such manipulations. It is necessary to attach lug wheels to the walk-behind tractor.
The track width must be at least 60 centimeters. Potato tubers are placed in the prepared furrows at equal distances from each other. After this, regular rubber wheels must be put on the Neva or Salyut walk-behind tractor, but the track width parameters remain the same. The gap between the wings is left as wide as possible and the row is filled with fresh soil.
If you have large areas of land at your disposal, then it will be more convenient and profitable to plant potatoes using a mounted potato planter. This unit consists of a furrower, a conveyor and potato distributor and a disk hiller. This way, in one pass along the row you can plant and cover the potatoes with soil.
In addition, in dacha practice, the method of planting a walk-behind tractor under a plow is used. To do this, lug wheels are put on the unit and the plow is hitched. Then use it to mark the first furrow. In this case, the potato tubers must be immediately thrown into a row, since at the end the walk-behind tractor with the plow turns around and makes a new furrow with one edge and covers the planted seeds with this soil.
Video “How to use a walk-behind tractor”
How to use a walk-behind tractor when planting potatoes different varieties and in different conditions– you will find out from the video.