[Odin]

 
Gonna dig a 40 yard furrow Saturday morning with my DB tractor and ye old Ransomes digger. Will leave on the surface for half hour for soil to dry before samin up (dialect for picking and sorting).
Some of my larger spuds weigh 1 whole pound are not hollow nor have growth splits. I have an order for these big boys in to the local farm shop 
As I have got further in to the middle of the crop , 40 X 40 yard, there is less grub damaged spuds because I managed to get them deeper and rowed/ridged up higher. The down side is the digger blade can slice them because it cannot get that deep. Also the damp soil makes it difficult for the tractor tyres as they clagg up.
It will take me a good half day to sort and another day to dry. I store them in wooden boxes with news paper to draw the moisture, then clean off dry soil and bag. I have a system developed that is time consuming but hey, isn't that what this kind of work is about ?

[Dan]

Sounds like fun. 

We only need a spade for our little crop. 

What variety have your grown, and where are you?

[Lesley Silvester]

Never doen very well with tatties  although I have only ever tried them in tubs and bags.

[Odin]

  Location is top end of Huddersfield in them there hills. The varieties are :-

Wiljur;  This is an early main crop, recognised as Yellow skin and oblong in shape and grows quite large. Versatile use.

Cara;   A main crop and otherwise known as 'Pink Eyes". An oval yellow shape with distinct pink eyes. Excellent in curries & stews.

Kestral:   Similar to the Cara but also known as "Red Eyes". Also the red colour can have an attractive red swirl in the skin. This is my favorite because of little grub damage and can produce spuds weighing over one pound.

Desiree: A red skinned potatoe and very  attractive both in the soil and bagged. Does not grow as large as the others but a plant can have a high yield. Not enough big ones to make chips but will do anything else.

All the above have been grown in a grass pasture that has been used for nothing else in living memory. There has been no use of any chemicals, fertilizers or manure, but for next year animal manure will be used as I now have the facility. The spuds have worked wonders with the land, it is now a different field.
It has been a good yield but a lot of small 'chitter' size that make laborious work. If anyone out there wants some chitters then let me know, can come to some arrangement but storage is a problem due to lack of it. But my tip for growing is deep in the earth on old manure and heap up when growing.

[Blonde]

I grow sweet potatoes, and I just dig them as I need them.

[Odin]

 
Got some nice big potates out the round this week although the wet is hampering things. My potatoe digger is a series of six forks mounted on a wheel that rotates as it is pulled along on the back of the tractor , or horses when designed as original. Unfortunately is does not get beneath the stitch where some of the larger spuds are lying so it needs to be pulled along the stitch twice to get 'em. With the wet the soil was turning into a suflae' , a whipped cream texture and traction was almost impossible.    However this well conditioned loose soil with manure worked in could be ideal for carrots next year, watch this space.
I am getting some repeat demands for 12kg bags at a fiver. A local restaurant is going to try a few varieties but that means greater care selecting. We use the ugly ones, nowt wrong with them but selling ugly does not work. The really ugly ones go into a boxed create that feed some pigs and deer. I do not draw cash for these but get the odd pint bought.   

[Herdygirl]

Had a great time at your place Robert, your potato lifter was brilliant! (and thank you for the spuds) 

[deepinthewoods]

i really enjoy your posts odin, and find your project very interesting.
keep em coming, thanks.

[Odin]

Like wise Herdygirl 'n' Guy. Enjoyed seeing your flock  and so did my daughter, I am aware how time consuming sheep are, particulary when lambing season, so you have a fair old hand full. That old building without the windows also caught my eye, I do have a habbit for drawing and painting old buildings and that one is a fascinating subject. So next time I come so is the old sketch pad   

[Plantoid]

Got some nice big potates out the round this week although the wet is hampering things. My potatoe digger is a series of six forks mounted on a wheel that rotates as it is pulled along on the back of the tractor , or horses when designed as original. Unfortunately is does not get beneath the stitch where some of the larger spuds are lying so it needs to be pulled along the stitch twice to get 'em. With the wet the soil was turning into a suflae' , a whipped cream texture and traction was almost impossible.    However this well conditioned loose soil with manure worked in could be ideal for carrots next year, watch this space.
I am getting some repeat demands for 12kg bags at a fiver. A local restaurant is going to try a few varieties but that means greater care selecting. We use the ugly ones, nowt wrong with them but selling ugly does not work. The really ugly ones go into a boxed create that feed some pigs and deer. I do not draw cash for these but get the odd pint bought.   

 Odin ,
Can you bung up a picture or threee of your potato spinner on this thread ?
From what you say ...I think there is a bottom blade missing off your spinner set up , it would go deep down under all but the deepest potatoes and the spinner would then tear out the already loosened row ( done by the action of the blade in front of the spinner forks ) c/w spuds and fling them over  a six foot wide band

[Odin]

When Herdygirl     came to observe, and join in , with the tatty picking process, another local farmer tipped up with his video camera and filmed the job. Now if I was capable of loading the images of all that on to here, then I would,    but on the other hand, if I was capable, then I would be doing something else, like borrowing large sums of money and shifting paper around.... do I sound sound cynical ?    Can I make it go with an hammer and lever ?
What I can tell you is, that there is a blade, like a scythe that sits under the spinner. If I could show you the film, you would see me levering the scythe blade down and lifting the wheels of the digger off the ground. Hard work and a mighty force.
At the end of the day , I could really do with an elevator type machine. The Ransomes digger is a novelty but it should really be in a museum, there is an identical one in a museum in New Zealand on the internet dated 1860.
If I could stick photos on I would, but its beyond my ken .   

[Plantoid]

That blade ...is it adjustable so you can move it slightly more forward and tilt it a wee bit so as to lift the row into the path of the spinner arms slightly ?
 There is a potato spinner on ebay for £100 see if it looks like your spinner .... the blade on this one is adjustable in hight and distance from the spinner tines & can be slightly tilted .

[Odin]

Ref ;- E Bay.
First appearance that spinner is similar because of the wheels, draw bar and the blade, however the machine is different. The digging wheel on the Ransome is mounted perpendicular and has a diameter of say three foot. It is a hexagon wheel with six digging forks that penetrate the earth. It is like watching a fan being dropped into the earth that is driven through a gearbox at the axle. Unlike the one on e bay that is chain driven and the spinner is like an inverted spinning stool.
The blade on the Ransome is adjustable in depth but there is a crack in the casting and there is a good chance of permanent damage if , a; I try to free off the adjuster & ,b; lowering the blade would increase the physical effort of getting it deeper into the earth or I would have to dig a hole there to start it off.
We are down there this morning and I will try to get a photo and send it you, watch this space .

[Odin]

Tatty digger

[Odin]

More,all today. That bogy at bottom of field we needed the four wheel drive 1210 to pull the 885 & digger up .